


Of Black Eyes and Split Lips

by BleuSarcelle



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), BoM members are Keith's Family, Established shallura, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Getting Together, Kolivan is a Protective Uncle TM, Lance plays soccer, Light Angst, M/M, Meet the Family, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Slow Burn, Thace is Keith's Dad, Thace is a Proud Papa TM, background shallura - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2018-08-05
Packaged: 2018-12-20 03:41:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 41,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11912475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BleuSarcelle/pseuds/BleuSarcelle
Summary: “Son, you didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend.”A what now.“Ha! Yeah, you caught me, ha ha…I have been sneaking off in the afternoons to see…my boyfriend.”Lance visually steps back in surprise at the words, eyes wide in shock before blinking rapidly. He steals a glance to Keith from the side but the teen is paying him no mind.Instead, Keith’s facing his dad, his arms crossed over his chest and leaning back from the adult, closer to Lance and trying really hard to ease his tense shoulder along with a weak smile.“This is Lance, my…boyfriend.”Oh no.(The one where Keith and Lance are stuck on pretending to be boyfriends for a trip while visiting Keith's family and all because they had a fight a week before. Keith believes he doesn't deserves this.)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ciuucalata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ciuucalata/gifts).



> Oh.My.God. Can't believe I'm finally posting this after two weeks, lmao. 
> 
> HAPPY BIRTHMONTH, BABE! YOU ARE IN FOR A RIDE WITH THIS FIC. 
> 
> Nothing much to say? Hope you enjoy it and have fun with this small piece I'm putting together <333 
> 
> SPECIAL THANKS TO MY MUTUALS KIM, LXIE FOR BEING PATIENT WITH ME WHILE I WHINED AND RAMBLED AND YELLED ABOUT THIS AU.
> 
> AND ANOTHER SPECIAL THANKS TO MY BETA YAS WHOSE COMMENTS ARE ALWAYS SO DAMN USEFUL. 
> 
> Disclaimer: Voltron doesn't belong to me.

_Is punching someone annoying worth spending his Friday afternoon in detention?_

Keith asks himself the same thing as he pushes the rolling pencil once again, letting it roll all the way up until it reaches the edge of his desk before it rolls back down to his finger and he repeats the action.

If that someone is Lance McClain, then Keith’s answer is simple: _Yes._

Keith doesn't need to lift his head to know that Lance's blue eyes are on him; he can feel the heavy stare from the brunet coming from the desk next to his own.

That and the mumbles the brunet not so subtly is whispering under his breath as he curses him and his ‘mullet’. Really, Lance should know by know how echoey these classrooms are, especially when it’s only the two of them there.

Well, them and their professor who had the misfortune of watching over them during detention on the last day of school.

Keith cracks his neck and tilts it to the side, tapping two times over the black screen of his phone discreetly, trying to look subtle enough so his teacher wouldn’t catch the action, and waits for it to light up with his blocked screen, showing him the time.

It’s been two hours since the last bell rang, signaling the last period of the day. The school must be deserted by now and Keith has no doubt that even the sports teams are done with their practice.

Keith sighs and drops his right cheek to rest against his fist, wincing slightly when it stings him just below his eye.

“Wrong cheek,“ Lance teases from by the side, a small smirk on his face as he tosses a paper ball up in the air, catching effortlessly as it goes down, “I sure did a number on you, huh?“

Keith rolls his eyes. “Says the one who couldn't talk without slurring for two days because of that split lip.”

“You have a mean elbow, man,” Lance grumbles, poking the corner of his mouth carefully, over his mildly healed cut, “How long ‘til we get out of here, anyway?”

“Half an hour,” Keith replies curtly, “Could be less if we ditch Professor Montgomery as in right now.”

“The man might be invested in his Candy Crush game, dude,” Lance says exasperated, “but he has the ears of a bat, he will know.”

Keith allows himself to spare a quick glance to the front of the classroom and he’s not surprised to see that their professor is still in the same position he was in when they started their detention.

“Is he even breathing?” he asks, eyebrows furrow in semi concern.

“Sure he is. Do you hear that little huff that happens every ten minutes?”

Keith pauses. “Yes? I thought that was the air vents?”

“Nah, that’s Professor M winning a level.” Lance snorts, “Believe me, man, your impatience is shared, I want to leave this place as soon as I can. It’s bad enough I missed soccer practice for the entire week but the fact that I had to spent my last day of school with you is just plain torture.”

Keith rolls his eyes at the comment. “The feeling is mutual, Lance.”

“Didn’t know you had feelings.”

“Didn’t know you say more than ten words without mentioning my hair and yet.”

Lance scoffs and limits himself to flip him off. Keith takes it as a victory.

If Keith is being honest, there wasn’t even a need for the teachers to give them detention. Sure, Lance and he might have fought earlier in the week in the middle of the hallway but that’s only because the universe hates Keith.

No? Not good enough explanation? Yeah, their Professor didn’t think so.

Keith doesn't even remember how they started fighting. It’s a given fact that Lance and he are not on the best terms, insults and snarky comments always at the tip of their tongues, but their verbal fights had always stayed at that: verbal with empty threats.

What he does remember is the white-hot fire inside him as soon as he heard Lance’s mocking voice behind him that Monday morning.

_‘I’m just saying, Kogane, that maybe you would be better off back home with your mom instead of getting in my way.’_

After that, everything is blurry. He remembers the surprised yelp from Lance as Keith shoved him back and all of the sudden, the two of them were wrestling on the floor; Lance managed to get a good punch on his right eye and Keith was able to elbow him back in response in the face.

Three pairs of arms were necessary to pull them off each other and only one angry stare was enough for those arms to disappear, leaving them in the claws of their teacher.

No parent calls were made and Keith allowed himself to think that maybe the universe is not out there to get him completely. He can have small miracles.

They didn’t apologize to each other, not really, because they never do. Lance never asked what got him to snap at him all of the sudden and Keith hadn’t been enthusiastic enough to share. They left it like that.

They had this sort of dynamic, something that started right off the first day Keith had walked through those doors in their high school and it wasn’t until the soccer tryouts when Lance had declared them rivals for whatever reason Keith’s still haven’t figured out.

 _‘You are the new kid for half a day and you already got a rival?’_ Shiro had said incredulously when Keith told him over the phone later in the day, _‘Keith, do you even know the concept of ‘friendly’?’_

Which is rude, Shiro, but to be fair: no, Keith doesn’t.

Shaking his head to get rid of his thoughts, he looks down his phone, watching as the last number of his digital clock changes from a five to a six when something hits on the side of his head. The distraction is enough for him to straighten in his seat and to miss the pencil that had been making its way down towards him.

The pencil falls to the floor and with it, Keith’s eyes focus on Lance as he turns his head to his right to meet the brunet’s annoyed face.

Lance is staring at him, a bored pout on place and a second paper ball sitting on top of his desk waiting to be used. He’s making the universal hand move of _‘I’m watching you’_ at Keith with his right hand before picking the paper ball with his hand and throwing it at Keith.

Keith doesn’t bat an eye as he flicks it away from his face and then turns back, expression blank, knowing that ignoring the brunet’s tactics were always the best solution to get under Lance’s skin. The squeaky yelp besides him how right he is and it’s almost amusing enough for him to crack a smug smirk.

Keith ignores Lance’s curses once again as he bends over and picks his pencil off the ground. Half an hour more and he will be free from this dump. Half an hour more and he will be far far away from Lance McClain and his stupid ass face for the entire summer.

The minutes drag themselves slow enough and then he double taps his phone screen again, stomach-turning anxiously as the last digit of the clock turns from a nine to a zero and he lets out the breath he didn’t know he was holding when the bell rings.

“Alright, boys, you are free to go, but remember that –”

Keith doesn’t stay long to listen whatever his professor was trying to say, probably something to do with life lessons and how to be a proper member of the society he didn’t want to be part of.

He slams the door open on his way out.

 

* * *

 

“Jesus, Kogane, what’s the rush? Any shabby business we should know about?”

Keith suppresses the urge to groan at the sound of Lance’s voice behind him. It doesn’t make him slow down on his steps, but he can hear Lance’s quickening his own and it makes him sigh in frustration.

“Home, where else?” Keith replies curtly, pulling the strip of his backpack higher on his shoulder, “Far, far away from you, McClain.”

Lance snorts. “Right back at ya, buddy, because guess where I will be by this time next week? Yeah, that’s right, Varadero beach, baby! The ocean, the waves, the garlic knots, the gorgeous babes and hot dudes, the whole package in one single place! I bet you’re jelly, huh, Kogane?”

Keith hums noncommittally, still walking towards the exit and he doesn't need to turn to know Lance’s face dropped from a smug grin to an annoyed tight line for being ignored.

The multiplies exits and entrances on this entire goddamn building are closed by now; they found out about that fact earlier in the week after their first detention session when Lance and himself tried to take different paths only to realize that they had to walk side by side towards the only available exit that was the main entrance of the school.

Keith likes the janitress, he does; she’s a kind old lady who leaves the floors spotless and has a mix of chemicals in her closet that can remove any kind of stain, but just this time, he curses her for closing his multiplies options of escaping from the hurricane that is Lance McClain.

He doesn't need to look at the clock on the wall to know that he still has time to get home before his dad. Not telling him that he has been going to detention for the past week is both the best and worst decision he has made since coming to this town.

It hasn't been easy to come home that Monday after school with a black eye, not when Keith had promised that he will stay out of trouble this time around unlike the other times they have moved in the past.

The black eye earned him three days without his laptop, but at least Keith got away with not mentioning the detention he had for the rest of the week. He honestly couldn’t have dealt with his dad’s disappointed stare if he had known about it.

 _‘We came here for a fresh start, son,’_ his dad’s words echo inside his mind like a broken record, _‘I know it’s hard but we got each other, we’re a team and we’re enough.’_

Keith had been quick to establish his plan so he wouldn’t get caught on his lie: final period of the day, quickly followed by two hours of detention, then all he had to do was to run straight to his house and get there before his dad would rise from the dark cave he calls his office, something he does around four in the afternoon every day without fail.

So far, since his punishment started, his dad hasn’t been able to catch him, something Keith’s grateful for, and today being the last day of detention, as well as of school, Keith can finally relax and drop his shoulders in relief, knowing he had avoided a major fight about responsibilities and the heart-to-heart conversation he knew his dad still wanted to have since –

Keith bites his lower lip at the thought. He’s not going there, not right now, not if he can help it.

 _‘Being the new kid sucks and it’s hard but you will pull through, okay?’_ Shiro had said to him, back when they have skyped the first night in the new town, _‘I know it feels like you are never getting back on track again but you will. You will get your life back, slowly.’_

 _‘That’s not what is hard,’_ Keith thinks, the grip on his backpack tightening at the thought, his free hand flying over his chest and sighing in quiet relief at the familiar weight that hangs from his neck, _‘That’s not what I want back.’_

“Look, man, this is my time to shine, okay?” Lance keeps talking, oblivious to Keith’s thoughts, “I’m Captain now and it’s my job to lead the team to victory. I can’t do it with you around messing up my game.”

“What’s wrong, McClain? Can’t live up to the expectations?” Keith mocks and he knows he shouldn't, he knows he only got off the detention he should have avoided in the first place, but Lance is being an annoying and _goddammit_ he really does know how to push his buttons.

“Shut up, you don’t know anything,” Lance frowns angrily, “You walk around like you own the entire planet as if you were the one and only savior in this school, well guess what, Kogane? You are not.”

“I walk around like I don’t give a fuck because I _don’t_ , Lance,” Keith replies calmly, shoving Lance by the shoulder when the brunet blocks his way. Lance purses his lips before he scoffs and straightens his jacket.

“Just you wait, Kogane, I’m going to be the best Captain ever that by the next season everyone will be ‘Keith who?’”

Keith scoffs. “Sure thing, bench boy.”

“ _Ex_ -bench boy.”

“Whatever you say.”

It doesn't take long before Keith finally catches the sight of the exit door and then he’s outside, fresh air hitting him right away followed by the familiar heat of summer.

He walks down the stairs, heading towards the parking lot and he’s not surprised when he can still hear Lance’s voice behind him.

“And another thing –”

“Why are you still talking?” Keith cuts off, incredulous that the brunet still had things to say.

“It’s part of my charm, Keith!” Lance scoffs annoyed.

Keith arches an unimpressed eyebrow. “And...you are trying to charm me?”

Lance’s eyes snap open at the suggestion before he’s spluttering, “What the fuck, man? No! I’m trying to annoy you!”

“Mission accomplished, now go away.” Keith rolls his eyes, taking out his bike’s keys and faintly acknowledges Lance doing the same thing.

“As if you would be so lucky, Kogane!” Lance mumbles, pressing two times the key’s buttons, making his old-fashioned blue beetle to light up in response and then raising his voice, “Me being your boyfriend - !”

“Keith?”

Both teens freeze at the sudden deep voice but it’s only Lance who looks confused by it. Keith, on the other hand, knows for sure now that the universe is out to get him.

The black-haired teen turns his head slightly to the left, suppressing the pitiful whine when he sees his dad in the middle of the parking lot.

“Hey...dad,” Keith waves awkwardly, “What, what are you doing here?”

He vaguely notices the way Lance turns to him, a much clear confusion furrowed together in his eyebrows but Keith’s attention is on his dad and the way he narrows his amber eyes in suspicion.

“I’m here to pick something from Coran for the weekend before we leave,” the older man supplies helpfully, walking towards his son until he’s in front of him, “What’s your excuse? What are you doing at school after hours?”

“Uh…” Keith tries, dragging out the words as long as he can only to give himself more time to come up with something, “Uuh…”

He sees the way his dad’s amber eyes narrow with further suspicion, a conclusion already being made inside his head and Keith’s desperate, and when he’s desperate he panics and when he panics he does rash decisions.

Oh, boy, there’s no saving him now.

“Um, I’m gonna go then.” Lance laughs awkwardly behind him and it makes Keith snap his head back to him, surprise taking over his face as he had forgotten he was there.

His dad follows his gaze, eyes also wide as if he hadn’t noticed the other teen. The older man look between them for a second before a small playful grin makes its way to his face and Keith knows there’s nothing good coming out of that.

“Oh, oh, so this is why you have been coming home late this past week, huh?” he teases softly, nudging Keith in the arm casually, “Son, you didn’t tell me you had a boyfriend.”

 _‘Oh, God, no,’_ Keith thinks, mind running wild with any other kind of excuse but the one that just left his dad’s mouth, ‘ _No, no, no, no, ew, no.’_

Keith doesn’t have time to know Lance’s reaction before he makes his rash impulsive decision. He only sees his dad’s eased expression, playful and happy and Keith knows there’s no way out now.

Well, fuck it, then.

“Ha! Yeah, you caught me, ha ha…I have been sneaking off in the afternoons to see…my boyfriend.”

Lance visually steps back in surprise at the words, eyes wide in shock before blinking rapidly. He steals a glance to Keith from the side but the teen is paying him no mind.

Instead, Keith’s facing his dad, his arms crossed over his chest and leaning back from the adult, closer to Lance and trying really hard to ease his tense shoulder along with a weak smile.

“This is Lance, my…boyfriend.”

_Oh no._

“Lance and I are boyfriends...like, kissy cliché boyfriends, yes.”

_Worst idea ever, Kogane._

“Yep, my boyfriend…Lance.”

_Damn the universe._

“You sure like calling him your boyfriend, son.” The adult eases playfully, hand over his hip before he turns to Lance, holding out his hand, “Pleased to meet you, Lance. I’m Thace Kogane.”

Lance blinks owlishly at the hold out hand in front of him before he feels two fingers twisting his skin over his shirt on his right side.

“Yeah! Yeah, nice to meet you too, sir.” He laughs nervously, shaking the older man’s hand with a strong grip and feels somewhat proud when Thace nods at him approvingly.

“Ah, strong handshake, huh? That tells a lot, you know.” Thace grins, before pulling back, “Well, I’m sorry for interrupting you abruptly, I will be on my way now. Coran won’t be happy if I’m even a minute late; that man may be wonky but he’s really special about punctuality.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay, bye, dad, run along now, okay, bye.” Keith rambles, a tight smile on his face and it makes Thace to raise an eyebrow in confusion before he shrugs and waves them off, heading towards the school entrance.

Both teens wait five solid seconds after the doors close behind the older man before they turn to each other.

 _“What the actual fuck, Kogane¡?”_ Lance hisses lowly and Keith opens his mouth to reply but the sound of the door opening once again cuts him off and he sucks in a breath when Thace’s head pops back out.

“Actually, Keith, can you come with me? I haven’t walked around these corridors, like ever, and I’m pretty sure I might get lost if you don’t come with me,” he chuckles, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and Keith nods shortly.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m...coming, dad,” Keith mumbles, taking one step forward.

“Oh, but don’t let me be the reason you guys don’t say goodbye properly!” Thace continues, smile way too big and excited to be normal, “It’s okay, I’m fine with PDA, boys. I cut your date short, it’s the least I can do.” He then waves his hands at them, mouthing a quiet _‘go ahead’_ and making both teens to freeze in their spot.

“Hah...yeah, so considerate, dad," Keith bites his lower lip before he turns back to the tanned teen, “Um, see you later…babe?”

 _“What are you doing?”_ Lance demands slowly, voice panicked and squeaky when Keith takes another step, fully entering Lance’s personal bubble.

“Just play along, please.” Keith hisses.

“ _Keith_.”

“Lance, _please_.”

Lance sucks in a whine but stays silent, giving Keith permission to step forward and with the most dramatic constipated look Lance has ever seen on someone’s face, Keith leans down and drops a kiss on Lance’s cheek.

It lasted less than a second, but it’s enough for both boys to gag internally, away from Thace’s view, and they both know it when their eyes meet.

“Meet me at Lions Park in half an hour,” Keith whispers under his breath as he steps back, “Just…meet me there, okay?”

Lance scrunches his nose but nods nonetheless.

Keith nods back and then, with just a second of hesitation, he turns around and jogs over his dad, scowling the second he hears the older man’s snickering.

Lance stays frozen in his spot, eyes still on the now closed doors before he blinks and shakes his head in disbelief and slapping himself on the cheek softly a few times before frowning.

_“What the fuck just happened?”_


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who is back, back again, me is back, back again.
> 
> So! Chap 2! Hope you guys like it, im going so dman slow with this goddamn thing but hey, slow burn, you were warned. 
> 
> ON TO THE FIC.
> 
> Disclaimer: Voltron doesn't belong to me.

Lance doesn’t like pacing; it only shows that you are anxious and worried, not to mention that it’s annoying, repetitive and it just plain useless because making a hole on the ground won’t fix anything.

So, yes, Lance is pacing.

The brunet groans, still nibbling on the edge of his thumb anxiously before dropping it and passing a hand through his hair.

He takes out his phone from his jeans’ pocket. It’s fifteen minutes past the time Keith had told him earlier and there’s still no sign of the teen.

Making a hole in the middle of the park was not how Lance wanted to start his summer. He’s supposed to be at Hunk’s house right now, playing video games and stealing the last cookie from Hunk’s batch that Pidge always manages to get first.

Instead, he’s _pacing_ in an empty park, sweating and heart beating like wild because Keith fucking Kogane just sentenced him to _death_.

God, how did this became his life? Is this his punishment for throwing that dead frog to Jessica on freshman year? He said sorry! Sure, he did it while laughing, but he had the purest intentions.

Lance shakes his head. Yeah, no, that’s probably not the reason why he ended up being Keith’s boyfriend.

 _His boyfriend,_ what the fu -

There’s the familiar sound of a bike slowing down and then quick hurried steps make him turn around towards the park’s entrance. Lance’s scowl comes back full force as his eyes fall on Keith’s running form, heading towards him.

He looks like he had just run a marathon, sweat rolling down his temple as soon as he pulls up his helmet and his red t-shirt tight and wet on him.

Keith’s black leather jacket is one of the many accessories Lance takes pride to mock on. The ‘bad boy’ comment never fails to make Keith to roll his eyes and it amuses Lance to no end but if Lance’s eyes linger a second to long on Keith’s toned arms as he removes his jacket and throws it on his shoulder, well, there’s no one around to witness it.

Lance prepares himself; he stands tall, firm and he taps his right foot against the ground impatiently, trying to canalize the nagging voice tone and pose his mama always use on him whenever he does something stupid.

“Keith Kogane, what the actual fu - !”

“Sh!” Keith shushes him, navy blue eyes narrowed in suspicion and worry as he inspects the park.

It’s deserted, Lance knows that much, okay? He’s been here for fifteen minutes. _He knows it’s fucking empty._

“Keith, _dude_ , you got like two seconds before I start freaking out,” Lance hisses quietly, scowling when Keith hushes him again, “Stop shushing me, man!”

“Look, look, look,” Keith says, hands raised in surrender, “I owe you an explanation.”

“And a pie!” Lance adds, voice loud and squeaky, eyes looking at both of his sides with uncertainty at his own words but he stands by them, “Yeah! That’s right! An apple pie! My services don’t come free!”

Okay, so what he’s talking about may be pure crap but he’s not allowed to be the only one confused and lost in this situation, alright? And if he has to go through the trauma of being Keith Kogane’s boyfriend for even five more minutes, he’s going to milk it as long as he can.

Keith opens his mouth at that but Lance’s glare makes him shrugs. “Sure, okay and a pie -”

“And, and a uh, a brownie!”

The black haired teen sends him an unamused look but doesn’t argue against him. “Fine, yes, and a brownie. Can I now - ?”

“And - And - !”

“Lance!” Keith snaps frustrated, slapping his hands together in front of him and letting them hang in the air as if in mid-prayer, “Can you shut up and let me explain and then you can continue asking for frivolous things?”

“Frivolous? What are you, fifty?”

“Lance!”

Lance purses his lips, eyes narrowed in suspicion, before he nods, quietly mumbling something about a shark onesie. Keith ignores him and sighs, starting over.

“Look, man, I didn’t mean to put you in that spot, it wasn’t fair of me, but I panicked.” Keith says, calmer and more resigned than angry, “I couldn’t let my dad know that I had detention for the past week and you were right there and then he suggested you were my boyfriend and my mouth just...threw up words, I guess and ta-dah!” he finishes weakly, raising his hands in a fail attempted to make jazz hands.

Lance crosses his arms over his chest, eyeing the other teen skeptical. “Why did you even had to hide the fact you had detention? My mama whooped my ass so hard that night I couldn’t sit right the next day.”

Keith pulled a face. “TMI, dude.”

Lance shrugs. “You haven’t answer the question, though. Why didn’t you - ?”

“I just didn’t, okay?” Keith replies shortly, features hardening and eyes flaring with a hidden reason. Lance frowns in confusion, his stand turning defensive at Keith’s sudden aggression but he lets it slide with a sigh.

He shouldn’t care what’s the reason Keith chose not to tell his dad about detention, that’s his own business. What is Lance’s business is knowing how the heck he’s getting out of the mess Keith pulled him into.

“Okay, fine, whatever, doesn’t matter now,” Lance rolls his eyes, untangling his arms and placing both of his hands on his hips,”Then answer this: why did you settle down with the worst option ever?”

“What was I supposed to say?” Keith shouts frustrated, throwing his arms in the air and Lance shots him an incredulous look.

“Uh, I don’t know, Keith? A simple ‘No, dad, this is not my boyfriend just a teammate’? No? Maybe that we were helping some stray kitties or an old grandma to cross the street after school? Some community volunteer work? Oh, man, then I sure don’t know what else you could have said to save your lie.”

“It’s not a lie!”

“Oh, sure, I’m so sorry, my honey boo, my Keith, my moon and stars, I’m sorry I forgot our week-anniversary.” Lance deadpans and Keith huffs a breath.

“Yeah, okay, so a lie. A tiny, tiny itty lie.”

“I don’t think me having a heart attack because of that _‘tiny, tiny itty lie’_ is justified, Kogane.” Lance says, tone flat but sighs when Keith shrugs helplessly, “Okay, it’s fine, whatever, so I was your boyfriend for like two seconds, it’s fine; you covered your lie and now you can say we broke up or something -”

“Uh…” Keith starts, hand flying to the back of his neck as he bites his lower lip.

Oh, no. Lance recognizes that ‘Uh’. Nothing good comes after that ‘Uh’.

That fucking ‘Uh’ is what got him into this mess in the first place.

“Uuh….”

Oh, no, it’s a double ‘uh’, _son of a bi -_

“So turns out that uh...” Keith says, a forced dry laugh leaving his lips as he shifts on his spot, “Okay, okay, so we have this...family vacation this week; it’s a four day trip and we’re staying at my Uncle’s cabin right next to Marmora’s Lake.”

“Good...for you?” Lance replies slowly, arching an eyebrow in confusion and it only makes Keith to bit his lip harder.

“Actually, it’s….good for both of us,” he says, hands once again flying in the air in a weak attempt to make jazz hands, “Ta...dah? Dad wants you to come and meet the rest of the family.”

“Stop it with the jazz hands,” Lance snaps, slapping the pale hands away before he glares at the teen, “Kogane, are you serious right now?”

Keith groans, hands on his face as he drags them down. “I know, I know, I’m sorry, but I can’t - Lance, I can’t go back now. Please, just...I will make it up to you, okay? Just, _please_ , come with us on this trip, I promise you will be back before the end of the week for you to go on your own trip with your family, but I need you this weekend. I need _you_ to be my _boyfriend_ this weekend.”

Now, those are some works he never thought he would hear from Keith fucking Kogane.

Lance makes a quick debate with himself inside his mind. On one hand,  there’s the fact that if he accepts, he’s going to be in a fake relationship with his rival who he can’t even stand 24/7, but on the other hand, this will mean that Keith will owe him and oh boy, the stuff Lance can do with that kind of _power_.

He doesn’t know what does ‘stuff’ is specifically, but hey, one step at the time. Making fun of Keith will come later after the break up.

Lance pretends to tap his chin in deep thought, watching as Keith shifts on his place again but he tries to look calm, as if he wasn’t anxious at all.

“So…?” Keith drags out the word, arching an eyebrow at the brunet but he looks downright desperate. It makes Lance uneasy to see Keith that unsure about something when he’s usually a tough shell to break.

Lance shakes his thoughts before smiling cheekily at Keith. “Okay, Kogane, you just won the lottery because I accept your humble offer of being your amazing most handsome boyfriend for the next four days, you lucky son of a bitch.”

Keith’s shoulders visually relax at the words, a small exhale leaving his lips as he flops down on the bench behind him. “Okay, cool, cool,cool, one thing out of the way at least.”

Lance hums, shrugs nonchalantly before shoving his hands on his jean’s front pockets. “So, when do we leave?”

“In two hours.”

“Two hours?” Lance shouts, suddenly frenetic, “Keith, I gotta pack! What do I have to bring? What do you even have to take to a cabin next to a lake? Sunscreen? Do I need sunscreen? I can’t let my skin get dried a week before the beach! Oh god, my beauty products, man, I gotta go pack them right now and -”

“Woah! Lance, just, just chill, okay? It’s a four-day trip, you won't need much.” Keith rolls his eyes and stands up once again with a groan. “Pack a few clothes; some pair of jeans, a few shirts, some underwear, a pair of swimming trunks, and that’s it.”

“And beauty products.”

Keith pauses, eyes not judgmental but not amused neither. “Sure, okay, and the beauty products, princess.”

“Says the one with the deserted-like skin, you reptile,” Lance mumbles, sticking out his tongue at the teen before he sobers up, “Okay, so, before I go pack, let’s get some things straight to make this believable, right? Like...maybe like what acts of a love struck couple we should do and what things we _won’t_ do no matter what?“

“What do you mean?” Keith asks, cocking his head to the side in confusion and Lance suppresses the urge to facepalm himself.

Instead, he rephrases his words. “You know, like, we gotta establish some barriers, right? Some rules? Boundaries? What is allowed and what’s a big no-no? Like, holding hands? Thumbs up. Hand inside pants? Big bad emphasised thumbs down.”

Keith shots him an flat look. “Lance, this is not a sitcom or one of your romantic comedy chick films -”

“You say chick film as if it was an insult.”

“That’s not - ! Ugh, look, the point is that we don’t have to establish anything just...I don’t know, the fact that we make eye contact for more than five second seems enough for me? What other acts do couple have to do to show they are together?”

Lance scrunches his nose. “Have you ever been in a relationship, Kogane?”

“No, and neither have you.”

Lance gasps, smacking his hand over his chest rather dramatically. “Excuse you, Mullet, but I have had girlfriends before.”

Keith arches an eyebrow at him.

“Yeah, okay, so one of them handcuffed me to a tree and stole my bike and the other one left the country three months after we started dating, but that’s different! Because Penny actually liked me unlike Nyma!”

“Penny Plaxum? The girl that was from an exchange program at the beginning of the year?” Keith asks, eyebrow raised in curiosity and Lance nods, “How did you managed to date her?”

“What the fuck you mean _managed¡?_ I will let you know that I’m a charming guy with charisma and skills that have all the ladies and guys dropping at my - ”

“I have lost control of this conversation,” Keith deadpans, arms crossed as he stares with blankly at Lance.

“Ugh, fine, whatever! Okay, so, hand-holding?”

“As soon as you get sweaty we break apart.”

“Psh, as if, that will be you, Sweaty Bean,” Lance scoffs, “Cuddles?”

“Once a day and only if there are people around.”

“Good. Pet names?”

“Go wild, I don’t mind.”

“Okay, Cutie Patootie.”

“I take it back.”

“Too late, Baby Cakes,” Lance smirks, making Keith sigh, “Okay, the big one: kissing?”

Keith shakes his head quickly. “Yeah, that’s a big bad depressed thumbs down or whatever you said before.”

Lance hums, unfazed. “So, basically no kissing? That’s the only thing so far? Everything else we will just make do at the moment, then.”

"Yep," Keith nods, "Your mouth is not coming anywhere near my mouth."

“Blah blah my mouth blah bleh," Lance mocks childishly, hand up and half closed to resemble a mouth before he pauses and then he smirks, “No kissing, huh?”

Keith narrows his eyes at him in suspicion but then Lance is licking his entire palm and launching himself at Keith, slimy wet palm pressed against Keith’s cheek.

“Ugh, disgusting, what the fuck, Lance!” Keith snaps, standing up and pushing the brunet back harshly as he wipes away the remaining spit on his cheek.

He hears the other teen cackles gleefully as he jumps a few steps away from him.

“What? You never said anything about cheek kisses!” Lance exclaims annoyingly, shit-eating grin on place as he starts backing away towards the park’s fence, “Welcome to the start of the rest of your weekend!”

Keith limits himself to flip him off which only makes Lance to laugh harder, flipping him right back and then jumping over the fence, jogging towards the direction of his house.

“Be ready in two hours, Lance!” Keith shouts, cupping his hands on his mouth to make his announcement louder.

“Yeah, yeah, okay!” was the faint reply.

Keith huffs annoyed before he turns back and heads towards his bike. This might actually be the worst idea ever but now all he got to do is survive and who knows, maybe the trip won’t be so bad.

 

* * *

 

“Stop kicking me.”

“You stop kicking me, you are the one invading my space.”

“Nah-huh? See this line on the seat? That’s where my seat starts. See this? That’s your almost flat ass invading my seat.”

“Says the Flatter Ass.”

“How dare you! You take that back - !”

“Sh, sh, shut up, my dad’s coming back!”

“Oh shit, okay, drop your head on my shoulder!”

“ _What the fuck_ , why I do have - !”

“Keith, just do it!”

“No! Oh my god, just, ugh, here, gimme your hand!”

“Ew, no - “

“That wasn’t a request!”

“I’m having regrets -”

“Too late. Hand. _Now_.”

Their hissing and whispers are tune out as soon as their door opens and Keith’s dad smiles at them. Thace’s amber eyes look down for a second, a small happy gleam in them as he sees the contrast of their two hands intertwined tightly together before he looks up, eyebrow raised in a teasing manner.

“Brought you guys some snacks!” He announces, passing the paper bag to Lance, who takes it with a smile, “This should be our only gas stop so I bought a lot of each.”

“Thank you, Mr. Kogane.”

The older man waves a hand at him. “Lance, please, Thace is fine or Sir, whatever floats your boat! And it was my pleasure!”

Lance raises his free hand to playfully salute the older man. “Duly noted, sir.”

Thace grins and claps Lance on the shoulder. “I like him,” he declares happily, glancing at Keith and making the teen groan.

“Can we go now?” Keith asks, head resting on the back of the seat lazily as he stares at his dad boredly, “We left town an hour ago and we still got like two more hours to get to Uncle Kolivan’s. At this rate we will get there after Shiro and he will take The Room.”

The adult rolls his eyes and raises his hands in surrender. “I still don’t know what’s so great about that attic but alright, alright, we are going. Excuse me for wanting to make sure my son and his boyfriend were properly fed.”

“Dad!” Keith groans, his free hand covering half of his face in embarrassment but he blinks in surprise when a sudden warm chuckle echoes around him.

He turns, watching the sight of Lance’s in mid-laugh, shoulder pressed against Keith’s. The teen wonders how did they even ended up being so close together in the first place. Sure, their Jeep is small and compact, but there’s enough room for them to be apart and not feel like they are suffocating.

And yet here they are, shoulders presses together in the back seat of the car, hands intertwined together and it shouldn’t mean anything, because it doesn’t really, it’s an act; a causal, domestic, couple-ly act.

It just feels...odd.

And _ew_ . It also feels _ew_ , if it makes any sense. It made in Keith’s mind but hey, apparently he doesn't have the best ideas, so his sources may be wrong.

“I think making a quick stop was a good idea, extra gas and a few snacks are never a waste of time.” The brunet shrugs, unknowingly bringing Keith back to the present, “You can never be too prepared, you know?”

“Trying to win over the father-in-law, huh?” Thace teases, leaning against the Jeep and Lance snaps his fingers, clicking his tongue.

“Dang it, is it that obvious?” he jokes, laughing when Thace shakes his head in amusement and claps him on the shoulder.

“Smart kid.” Thace says calmly, nodding at the brunet before closing the door and walking around the car to get to the driver’s seat. The adult exhales contently as he settle down on his seat and flashes them a grin through the rearview mirror. “Alright, boys, let’s get this trip going.”

The radio is turned on. Thace switches from station to station, listening to every single one of them for a few seconds before changing it again. It’s a normal occurrence for them, deciding what radio station to stay on before continuing the trip.

Keith only sighs resigned, being used to the routine before his stomach drops all of the sudden when he recognizes an old familiar slogan.

His eyes snap back to this dad and he catches the small hesitation in the adult’s hand as it hovers over the radio button. He can’t see his face but there’s something on the way his shoulders tense and his hand trembles in the slightest that tells him that Keith’s not the only one who recognized the station.

It’s a simple station filled with old songs from the eighties and sometimes even nineties. It brings him back to his youth, back when he was six and sitting in the middle of the back seat with his favorite hippo plushie on his lap. Back to when the only sight in front of him was the one of the road ahead of them and two figures on the front seats.

It takes him back to when a pair of familiar and deep blue eyes similar to his own would turn and share a smile with him, cooing at him and showering him with love and affection while his dad’s soft chuckles echoed around them.

Keith’s no stranger to these memories, but they are the ones he had tried so hard to bury deep inside him all those years ago, but God, do they bring back the faint feeling of comfort and warmth as he remembers the way his parents and him used to sing along together, as best as they could, to every single song it that would appear on the radio.

How long has it been since he listened to this familiar tune? How long since three pairs of voices would  harmonized together only to be abruptly cut down to two and then zero?

Keith takes in a sharp breath, trying to keep inside the hurricane that surrounds and clutches his heart tightly inside him. His hand unconsciously makes its way to the middle of his chest, palming something above his shirt and waits, holding his breath for a reason as he sees the way dad makes a decision.

The button is barely a soft push away from being pressed when Lance suddenly gasps besides him and something in the air shifts.

“Oh! Oh! Dude, I love this song!” Lance shouts, an excited wide grin covering his face as he pushes himself from the seat and leans forward. Keith lets go of his hand without even knowing, the sight of Lance’s beaming expression making him blink in surprise.

“You...you do?” Thace asks, face turning to look at both boys in surprise.

Lance nods. “Yeah! It’s my mama’s favorite song! I basically grew up with these type of songs! Oh man, my parents used to dance to them in the middle of the living room and my siblings and I would try to copy them and it was the funniest thing ever - !”

Keith watches in silence as Lance rambles on and on about his family’s shenanigans and he can’t help but blink with surprise.

Lance’s never quiet or still, his expressions and words where some of the things he is known for, but there’s this...fondness as he talk about his family that twist deep inside Keith.

There’s no cockiness or ego lingering in his words; not when he’s talking about his older brother’s tactics during their dancing lessons, or the way his parents used to waltz around the room with their children in the middle of their embrace, or when he talks about that time his sister’s only way to put her kids to bed as to sing the meme song of Rick Astley with the help of her siblings.

It’s a foreign scene for Keith and the sudden respect and understanding that appear inside him surprises him but he still welcomes it.

So, there’s a lot of Lance that meets the eye. Who would have thought?

 _“Oh mother dear we're not the fortunate ones,”_ Lance sings softly, humming at the back of his throat the rest of the melody as he leans back and closes his eyes with a happy eased smile, _“And girls they want to have fun!”_

Keith meets his dad’s gaze from the rearview mirror and he can easily see the silent question he’s asking.

The teen hesitates, throwing a quick glance towards Lance, taking in the sight of relaxed shoulders, happy grin and soft humming before he turns back to his dad and shakes his head.

His dad pauses before he nods and he drops his hand, leaving the station on as he turns the key and starts driving, Lance’s humming still in the background.

Just because Keith had memories that haunt him at night doesn’t mean Lance does.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> JESUS FUCK THEY ARE FINALLY AT THE CABIN.

Lance stares outside his window as his fingers tap gently against his forearm at the rhythm of the music coming from the radio.

The sun is already setting behind the mountains. Thace had told them an hour ago they were almost arriving at their destination. Lance had to admit that he was low-key excited, especially since he has never been to Marmora Lake, despite it being relatively close to the town.

Lance wonders if the said lake was a usual destination in Keith’s family; he would say so if having an Uncle living near it meant anything by it. It almost felt like an unlocked mystery level for Lance, to step into Keith’s origins grounds, as if it was something prohibited or sacred.

Baby photos. If the place they are staying at has baby photos of Keith Kogane, Lance can die a happy man with enough blackmail for the years to come.

Or at least, until they graduate and go off to college.

Lance grins to himself. Yeah, it’s going to be a good senior year, for sure.

“So, Lance.” Thace’s calling snaps him back to the present, eyes falling on the man’s back before he lifts his eyes and meets a pair of amber ones on the rearview mirror. “Keith mentioned you two are on the soccer team together?”

“Uh, yeah! Yeah, Keith and I are in the school’s representative soccer team,” Lance replies easily, flashing the adult a cheeky smile. “Not to brag, but just recently I was made Captain.”

Thace nods. “Yeah! Keith did mention a few weeks ago that there was a new Captain on the team. That’s how I made the connection, actually, about you two being together. I mean, after hearing your name coming out of my son’s mouth so many times since we moved here, one will draw their conclusions, you know? It’s not that hard.”

Lance’s eyes furrow together in confusion before he turns confused to the side, the sight of Keith’s sleeping form greeting him.

“He talked about me?” Lance echoes, head tilted to the side but eyes never leaving Keith’s form.

Keith passed out as soon as they left the town’s limits and he hasn’t moved in the least from the position he was in an hour ago. The teen’s forehead is heavily pressed against the window, mouth barely opens, black hair disheveled and limp arms still crossed over his chest.

The blanket Keith had taken out earlier from one of the duffle bags from the trunk hangs loosely from his right shoulder, slowly making its way down until it was almost resting on the teen’s lap, exposing him openly.

It reminds him of how his siblings would fight off the fluffiest blanket during their road trips but the blanket would always go to the twins. Lance usually don’t mind, it’s quite endearing and cute to see both his niece and nephew snuggled up together in the middle of their van’s back seat. It never failed, though, that they would move around often and the blanket would get knocked off them.

He would always be the one pulling it up, tucking them once again gently with a soft fond smile. It’s not a surprise when Lance’s hand suddenly twitches, barely lifting it from his lap and reaching towards the blanket to pull it back up before he stops and his gaze focus on Keith’s sleeping face again.

This is Keith. Just Keith.

Lance pauses and then his hands drop.

There’s no need for that.

“It must be exciting, having your boyfriend in the same team,” Thace continues obliviously, eyes on the road and Lance’s attention is back on the adult, “But I bet that’s not the only thing you like. Come on, tell me more about yourself, Keith is not that good about sharing.”

“Oh, boy, do I know that,” Lance chuckles, shaking his head because _god, he actually doesn’t know_ but Thace shares his laugh so he takes it as a victory, “I honestly don’t know what to say? What would you like to know, sir?”

“Well, how about your hobbies? Plans? Dreams?” A coy smile makes its way to Thace’s face but Lance can only see half of it, “Maybe talk about how long you two have been together and hiding from the world?”

Lance freezes.

Oh, God. Keith and he didn’t cover any background information they might need to make their fake relationship more believable. Was Lance supposed to do _everything_ in this relationship?

“Oh, how about how you two met?”

The brunet resists the urge to slap Keith awake so he can back him up but Thace’s eyes are back on him, watching him carefully.

Well, goddamn, Keith was saved this from being jolted awake by Lance’s slap.

Lucky bastard.

“Oh! You know, class...school...team?” Lance chuckles weakly, rubbing the back of his head nervously and Thace shots him a look.

“Didn’t take you for a shy one, Lance,” Thace teases.

“I’m not, I’m not!” Lance laughs before smirking. “But Keith _loves_ telling the story of how we meet. I can’t take that away from him.”

That will teach that asshole not to take naps.

Thace hums, pursing his lips in acceptance before he shrugs. “That’s fair.”

“How far are we from the lake now?” Lance asks casually, trying to change the subject.

Thace’s eyes never leave the road as he replies. “A few more miles, not much longer,” he chuckles, a sudden smile forming in his face as a thought crosses his mind and Lance arches an eyebrow.

“What?” he asks curiously.

“Well, it’s just that it’s been a while since we actually left the town, let alone visit my brother’s cabin,” Thace says, a nostalgic tone on the back of his voice. “We used to move around a lot but Marmora’s Lake was always our place to go and be...well, a family.”

“That sounds nice,” Lance says. “Why did you stop going then?”

There’s a heavy pause and it makes Lance frown in confusion.

“Was that too personal?” he asks slowly, lower lip between his teeth in a guilty manner but he relaxes when Thace shakes his head.

“No, don’t worry, I was just thinking back that it _has_ actually been a while; two years to be exact,” the adult mumbles quietly before his smile is back on place. “Well, to keep it simple, I needed a new scenery. After publishing my second book, I decided to take a break and start fresh, you know?”

“I didn’t know you were a writer!” Lance exclaims loudly and he winces when Keith groans next to him. Both men lift their eyes to meet Keith’s still sleeping form and then they share a relieved look.

“No one wants a grumpy Keith,” Thace jokes, making Lance snicker, “And, yeah, I’m a part-time writer. I work at my brother’s company too in administration.”

“Cool! So, what kind of books do you write, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I don’t mind. It’s actually a small book series for kids. I didn’t intend for it to actually have a second part, but the main character was really accepted and loved by the audience. It’s a short type bedtime stories about a young warrior’s adventures in space.”

“Sounds familiar,” Lance hums, tapping his chin deep in thought.

“Well, it really got popular quite fast," Thace hums casually. "The main plot is how she travels the galaxy in search of her family with the help of a few friends she meets on the way but her most trusted one is this sword that has been passed down from generation to generation in her family. It’s called -”

“The Red Lion!” Lance gasps. “No way! Are you the author of Hallasan’s Chronicles? Sir, my respect and admiration for you just went from here,” the brunet drops his hand just below his knee before guiding his free hand high, leaving it hanging just a little above his head, “to here!”

“You a fan then?” Thace asks curious and Lance scoffs.

“Am I a fan, he asks! They are my niece and nephew's favorite books!” Lance confesses easily with a grin. “They love them to death and they make me read it to them every time I visit to reenact all the scenes. I remember that my niece wouldn’t let go of a wooden stick for three weeks yelling how she and her red lion would destroy the _‘purple kitties_ ’”

“Oh, man, those purple kitties, they sure are the worst but,” Thace smirks, meeting Lance’s eyes on the rearview mirror, “Would you believe me if I told you that some of them are actually good?”

Lance scotches himself closer to the small opening between the two front seats and beams at the adult.

“Please, do tell.”

 

* * *

 

The sound of constant mumbling and chatter is what brings him back to the land of living and Keith can honestly say that he’s not pleased in the least.

“– and then she just came in like bam, boom, blam! It was epic and I swear I was on edge the entire scene! She took down the entire gang with two single moves!”

“She’s quite something, isn’t she?” Thace says, soft and fondly and Keith doesn't need to ask who they are talking about.

“Yes! She’s such a badass warrior and her sword is iconic! Alana almost murdered me when I broke her stick. Totally not my fault, though, it’s not my fault she left it on the couch! That cost me a trip to the park at eleven at night to replace it.” Lance laughs, head shaking in amusement at his own family memories.

Keith wonders how many memories he has. There must be a lot, because a new one always appears every time Lance opens his mouth.

“How much longer, dad?” Keith asks instead, groaning as he rolls over and pushes himself from the seat, stretching his arms and back until he hears a pop. He ignores Lance as he keeps rambling about his dad’s character. He knows all about it and some more.

“We’re actually here,” Thace announces, taking one last turn before entering a small dirt path that leads to a big wide space with several parking spots.

“Woah,” Keith hears Lance mumble and it makes him turn to meet whatever the brunet is seeing.

Something tugs sharply inside him but he realizes it’s not as unpleasant as he thought it would be. His Uncle’s cabin is huge and quite separated from the rest of the cabin around the zone. Two stories high and wide enough to welcome all of their family members.

Keith lifts his head a little, trying to look down the small ledge a few feet from the parking spot to see the lake below. The wooden stairs to get from the cabin to the lake ground are still in the same place, and as Keith’s eyes catch the old plastic chairs and some water sport equipment scattered around the edge of the water, memories of children’s laughter echoes inside his mind and it takes him back to when he used to run around those same grounds with his older cousins, rough playing in the water for hours until they were fully covered in mud.

Keith shakes his head with a faint smile, remembering how mad Uncle Kolivan used to get with them every time they would run around the halls still covered in mud and wet from head to toe. It was almost like a game, or at least, that’s what his mom used to make it as, her always being the troublemaker and partner in crime of the youngsters of the family.

The thought makes him freeze for a second before he drops his gaze and pulls out by the chain his necklace, bringing out from its hiding until it rests on the palm of his hand.

 _‘Well, hope you like this visit, mom,’_ he thinks as he rubs the small red quartz that its tied to his simple chain.

He sighs heavily before putting it back, safely covered under his shirt and he turns to see Lance. The brunet is still staring in disbelief at the cabin and lake itself, jaw wide open, almost comically, that Keith suppresses the urge to snap it close like in the cartoons.

“You are drooling, Lance,” Keith teases.

Lance’s attention is snapped back on him. “I didn’t know you were rich,” he hisses under his breath, leaning towards Keith’s space and Keith suppresses the urge to shove him away to avoid suspicion.

“I’m not? My Uncle is,” Keith answers bewildered before pinching the brunet on his side when he sees his dad stepping out of the car, “Personal space, Lance.”

“Jeez, where is my loving boyfriend?” Lance grumbles before opening the door of his side, leaving it open for Keith to climb out behind him.

They walk towards the end of the car, the sight of Thace chatting and smiling big with a newcomer as he opens the jeep’s trunk greets them.

The older man notices them first; he’s slightly taller than Thace and has broader shoulders, something from his stance screaming respect and power.

Lance almost want to turn back and hide on the Jeep when those intense brown eyes focus on him. Keith stops him by grabbing him by the forearm.

He sends him a _‘where the fuck are going’_ look but Lance can’t answer because a deep grave voice cuts him off.

“Who is that?” the man asks, arms crossed over his chest as his looks at Lance from head to toe almost skeptically, eyes narrowed in suspicion.

“ _That’s_ Lance! _He_ is Keith’s boyfriend!” Thace’s head pops out from the side of the Jeep, grinning proudly. “ _His boyfriend._ ”

“Dad! Oh my god, really?” Keith shouts, an angry blush spreading over his cheeks. It makes Lance cock his head to the side for a moment before he smirks.

Well, if it embarrasses Keith, what’s holding him back?

“His _boyfriend_!” Lance echoes happily, arms thrown to the air for emphasis, “and _he_ is Keith’s _father_ and _my_ father-in-law!” he shouts while pointing at Thace who beams back at him.

"Oh god, stop." Keith groans, dragging his hands in his face and Thace chuckles.

"Alright alright," he gives in, hands up in mock surrender before leaning sideways to his brother’s ear, hand cupping his mouth as if telling a secret and whispering. "His _boyfriend_!"

The man chuckles huskily under his breath as he pushes away Thace’s face from his own. “I got the idea, brother, thank you,” he turns back to the teens. “It’s nice to meet you, Lance.”

Lance nods back at the adult. “Nice to meet you too, Sir.”

Keith rolls his eyes before he waves and walks forward. “Hello, Uncle Kolivan, yeah, I’m alive, thank you for asking.”

The adult huffs a laugh before he grabs the teen’s wrist and pulls him close. “Come here, you.”

Keith splutters surprised as he’s pulled into his uncle’s embrace and shouts when he feels hands ruffling his hair, the embrace turning it quickly into a headlock.

“Psh, Uncle Kolivan, come on, I’m not ten anymore,” Keith scoffs but he still smirks in challenge, wrestling against his uncle’s hold until he frees himself.

“Ah, you have been improving, I see.” Kolivan nods approvingly as Keith scoffs and steps back.

“Of course I have,” Keith says, chin held up high in pride as he grins at his uncle.

The man is about to answer when he suddenly frowns and steps closer, eyes narrowed dangerously as he stares down at Keith’s face.

“What happened?” Kolivan demands, voice low and serious as he nods at Keith’s eye.

Keith blinks confused for a moment before his eyes widen in realization and roll his eyes. “Oh yeah, Lance punched me. No biggie.” He shrugs, reaching for another bag from the trunk but he’s processing the words that just left his mouth and he gasps, snapping his head back to the adult.

He winces mentally when he sees he’s too late and Kolivan is already towering on Lance, the brunet’s back pressed against the Jeep.

“Uh…” Lance lets out carefully as he turns his eye to meet Keith and sends him a desperate look, “Um, Keith? A little help?”

“Oh, shit, wait, no!” Keith hisses guiltily, putting himself in the middle of the pair and placing both of his hands over his Uncle’s chest, pushing him back. “Uncle Kolivan, no, that's not what I meant.”

Kolivan scowls. “You said -”

“Frozen yogurt!”

The pair stop on their track and turn slowly to look back at Lance, who has his hand raised as if he was participating in a class.

“Frozen...yogurt” Kolivan deadpans and honestly, Keith doesn't blame him for the confusion because he’s on the same boat but then he catches Lances frenetic eye movements, mouth barely moving to communicate with him silently and then Keith’s light bulb turns on.

“Oh, yeah!” Keith exclaims, a big fake smile on his face. “Yeah yeah, _frozen yogurt._ ”

“Frozen yogurt.” Thace repeats, his head finally reappearing from the trunk as he stares down at both teens, who nodded enthusiastically.

“Frozen yogurt!” They harmonize, standing side by side with what they hoped was an innocent smile.

There's a pause and then Kolivan’s scowl deepens when they don't elaborate.

“What happened with the frozen yogurt?” Kolivan snaps annoyed.

Keith and Lance share a quick look before Lance yelps and stumbles forward, sending an exasperated glare back at Keith who whistles innocently before he turns to the adults.

“Our first date!” he blurts out, “It was our first date. It was after school and we uh...we went to the frozen yogurt shop next to the park. It was pretty simple, nothing dangerous about yogurt, ya know,” Lance shrugs nonchalantly, a tight laugh escaping his lips nervously.

Keith steps in. “But it’s one of those shops where you can do it yourself, so my...dashingly charming boyfriend here wanted to show off his yogurt skills so he tried to serve us both our yogurts -”

“Amazing yogurt skills, by the way,” Lance interrupts and Keith stares flatly at him.

“Yeah, so amazing that he didn’t realize that the machine was broken so when he pulled harder than necessary at the lever, the thing fell off and collided with my eye.” Keith smirks as Lance stares at him in disbelief, “So, not only did he unintentionally punch me, but he also turned the shop into a strawberry yogurt pool.”

‘ _Screw you,’_ Lance mouths silently at Keith who winks at him in response.

“It’s okay, babe, everybody makes mistakes.”

“Everybody has those days.” Lance sings, finger pointing at him and making Keith roll his eyes.

“Really? Miley Cyrus?” Keith deadpans and Lance grins mischievously at him.

“What? You sang it at the yogurt stand at the top of your lungs but you won't sing it here? It's _our song_ , babe.”

Keith sends him an unamused glare but he hears the soft chuckles from his dad behind him and he sees the way his uncle’s mouth twitches in amusement.

Huh. How about that?

“Whatever, so! In the end he...apologized and ...uh,” Keith hesitates, brain dry out of ideas but then a hand is over his shoulder and Lance's voice fills in.

“And then! Then Keith quite literally slipped with the yogurt on the floor and fell into my arms! He was a goner as soon as he stared into my beautiful ocean eyes, his words not mine. He was such a _mess_ , all blushing and stuttering.”

Keith smiles tightly before he slams back his elbow, effectively knocking the air out of Lance from behind.

“As if you weren't smitten with my, what was it, babe? Fluffy smooth hair?” Keith teases with a smirk and Lance glares at him.

“Oh yeah? That’s nothing with how you got swooped down by my legs, babe, yeah that’s right! I caught you staring! You ain't slick!”

 _‘Oh god, did he really notice?’_ Keith panics inside his mind because _hey hey hey now_ , he’s a teenage boy who is on a group of teens who run around with shorts every day during soccer practice. It’s totally normal to sometimes stare at his teammate’s legs…

Just Lance’s actually...

Yes…? Normal?

So, alright, Lance’s attractive. Keith's not blind, he can admit some people are attractive, just...not...out loud.

 _‘Oh, no, forbidden thoughts right there,’_ Keith thinks back in the present _, ‘Alright, wrap this up, Kogane, wrap it up right now.’_

“The point is,” Keith hisses slowly, “that it was an accident which only made us...closer, because we actually got free yogurt at the end from the manager and somehow went on a second date.”

“And then the rest was history!” Lance finishes happily, wrapping an arm over Keith's shoulders. “Honeymoon phase and all that.”

Oh god, here come the eye twitch, Keith can feel it. “Yeah...honeymoon...phase.”

“A lil’ constipated there, buddy,” Lance mumbles quietly under his breath and Keith pinches on the side subtly, “Ow, _dude_.”

The adults just stare at the display, eyebrows arched in confusion but still amusement at the scene in front of them.

“What’s the story behind the split lip then?” Kolivan asks, nodding at Lance and Keith sees it before the brunet can even open his mouth. He literally sees the evil gleam Lance’s blue eyes get as soon as he hears the question.

Come on, Universe, you can't hate Keith this much, right?

“Make out session gone wrong.” Lance smirks, chin held up high and proudly, “Keith got a lil’ enthusiastic.”

Good legs or not, Keith’s going to kill him.

Keith drags a hand slowly down his face as he fumes and slaps his own hand when it tries to reach Lance’s neck with a sudden urge to choke him.

“Damn, son.” Thace whistles near him, wiggling his eyebrows playfully, “Do we need to have The Talk again?”

“ _Nope_!” Keith yelps, dropping the bag in his hands to the floor and walking towards the cabin. “I’m out. Bye. It was not a pleasure.”

“Keith! Keith, come on! Keith!” Lance laughs, cupping his hands on either side of his mouth, “Come on, babe! There’s no shame!”

“Keith, you still need to help with the bags!” Thace says, throwing a look towards his brother who rolls his eyes but still nods and follows the teen.

Two minutes later and Kolivan is walking back to the Jeep while dragging by the back of the collar a grumpy scowling Keith.

“I came here to have a good time,” Keith mumbles, huffing when his dad drops a duffle bag on his waiting arms.

“And you are _so_ getting attacked right now,” Lance teases, nudging him with the shoulder before swooping down and dropping a kiss on the teen’s cheek, “Cheer up, babe, stay in character.”

Lance winks, patting him mockingly in the cheek before walking towards Thace and taking one of the bags from him.

“Heh, you’re blushing, kiddo,” Kolivan points out with a grin as he stands beside him, two bags hanging from his shoulder.

“No, I’m not!” Keith squeaks, scowling at his Uncle who just laughs at his laugh, making him even grumpier.

God, he’s surrounded by traitors.

 

* * *

 

“Now, this is a room fit for a prince.” Lance whistles, eyes traveling every corner of the room as he steps forward and drops his bags right next to the bed. “Damn! Now I can understand why you wanted this room! Look! We even have a terrace!”

Keith nods, groaning as he drops his own bags next to the dresser on the other corner of the room before rubbing his shoulder. “Yep, the best room in the house, to be honest. It’s actually an unofficial rule here that whoever gets to the cabin first, gets to keep the room for the entire trip.”

“Neat rule," Lance says, throwing himself on the bed and sighing with pleasure as he slowly sinks into the mattress. “Oh, god, I expected sleeping bags and maybe a few bugs but this is heaven.”

Keith snorts, picking one single bag from the floor and placing it on top of the dresser. “I’m just happy that we got here before Shiro, he always steals the room because his college is closer to Uncle Kolivan’s cabin.”

“That’s cheating!” Lance gasp dramatically and Keith throws his hands in the air in exasperation.

“I know, right?”

Lance snorts a laugh. “Who is he, anyway? I keep hearing his name?”

Keith blinks confused before he snaps his fingers. “Ah, right, sorry. Shiro is my cousin, well, one of them.”

Lance hums a soft _‘Oh_ ’ sound before he pushes himself enough until he’s back on sitting cross-legged on the bed. “Are you two close?”

Keith eyes him from the side, eyebrow raised in suspicion but Lance shrugs, hands up. “Hey, I’m just making conversation, man, nothing wrong there.”

“I know, it’s just...feel weird that we are actually capable to talk without insulting each other.”

“Donkey face,” Lance declares, making a simple finger gun at him with a wink and Keith huffs out a laugh,

“There we go, thank you for the small part of normalcy in this situation, Zit Butt”

“Anytime, _Puddin’,_.” Lance jokes, “So, Shiro?”

Keith shrugs. “Yeah, we are close. It’s actually a long story?”

“I got time, besides, we need to know stuff about each other,” Lance says while grabbing a pillow from the bed and dropping his chin on it. “Get on with it, mullet.”

Keith sends him a look before he rolls his eyes. “Fine, fine. So, I meet Shiro when I was four years old, I guess? He is my Uncle Ulaz’s ward, he was uh…” he hesitates and drops the shirt he was folding to throw a hand behind his neck, rubbing it nervously.

Lance frowns. “Hey, it’s fine if it is too personal -”

“No, no, it’s fine, it was years ago. He has healed since then and he probably could tell you the entire story,” Keith reassurance, picking up the t-shirt again before continuing. “He was in an accident when he was eight. My Uncle Ulaz was one of the policemen that were near the accident that helped him get out just in time but they were too late for his parents. My Uncle took him in immediately when he got the news, not letting him to even be considered to be put on the system, knowing how bad they were.”

“I can respect that, that’s incredible,” Lance says softly and Keith nods, a small smile curving at the edge of his lips.

“Yeah, he is,” he whispers and Lance pauses for a second at Keith’s tone, full of pride and fondness for his family.

It does _something_ inside him that he ignores.

“And then?” Lance asks carefully, cocking his head to the side as if to make sure it was still okay to talk about it and sighs in relief when Keith speaks up again.

“Ah, so, anyways, it took a while for the documents to be filled up and for the court to accept my Uncle’s offer but soon enough, Shiro finally joined us in our annual family trip here in the lake.” Keith lets out a soft chuckle, “I still remember the way he was hiding behind my Uncle’s legs, it was really cute, now that I think about it, but back then I was four, so my only thought was _‘Why is he hiding? I’m not even holding my sword -’_ ”

“Sword?” Lance asks, “Sorry for the interruption but _sword_ , Keith? Really?”

Keith waves him off half-heartedly. “I had a plastic sword. Sue me, Lance.”

“Baby Keith with a plastic sword,” Lance coos and laughs as he dodges the hairbrush thrown at him, “Right, right, sorry, I give up, I give up.”

“So _anyway_ , it was actually my...well, it was my _mom_ who managed to coach Shiro into talking and joining the small group of kids we had back then,” Keith continues, voice dropping a little as he narrates and Lance has to lean closer to be able to hear him, “Heh, she actually told me something like _‘Keith, it is now your duty to make sure Shiro has a friend and that he has fun, do you accept this responsibility, young knight?’_ I was in awe at the moment because I felt important enough to make a difference in someone's life, and my mom –“

Keith pauses, this time longer, lifting his eyes as if suddenly remembering where he was before he turns to look back at Lance behind him.

The brunet stares right back at him, bemused at the sudden silence. Keith clears his throat and looks away, dropping his activity and heading towards the door.

“So, yeah, after that my relationship with Shiro grew stronger by the years, being two of the kids closer to age, and we have been almost inseparable since then.” Keith finishes, voice tight and low, “Come on, let’s go downstairs, the rest of them shouldn’t take long to arrive.”

Lance limits himself to nod slowly, raising from the bed to follow Keith out of the room.

“Bet I can get downstairs faster than you.” Lance says, nudging the teen on the ribs to catch his attention and he smirks when Keith glares at him.

“Oh, you’re on, McClain.”

“Psh, whatever you say, sweetie.”

“Imma make your murder look like an accident if you continue with the pet names, Lance.”

“Sure thing,” A pause and Keith’s eyes narrow at the shit-eating grin on Lance’s lips, “ _Daddy_.”

“Oh my god, Lance! No –!”

“Keith!” Thace’s voice cuts him off from downstairs, “Both of your presences are requested."

“We’re coming, Dad!” Keith shouts back, huffing when his first try misses Lance’s arm.

“Missed me!” Lance cheers, winking behind his shoulder as he starts climbing down the stairs.

Keith only scoffs, rolling his eyes before following the brunet.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw heck yeaaaah, chap 4!!! 
> 
> Thank you guys for all the support for this story! I'm really really happy you are enjoying this trip with me!!! 
> 
> And now, I leave you with almos 7k of clueless boys and their sheningans <3

"Where is my brotha for another fotha!"

Lance yelps when he almost collides with Keith’s back as the black-haired teen stops mid step suddenly.

Eyebrows furrowed in confusion, Lance opens his mouth to call him out before he hears a soft gasp from Keith when two arms lift him from the ground by his waist from the side.

There’s a moment of bewilderment in Keith’s face for a second as he’s held up in the air, his back pressed against a broad chest and his limbs curled up together, trying to make himself into a ball, but then recognition falls down his face and a bright grin appears on his lips.

It makes Lance pause because... _damn_ , that’s a nice look on Keith.

“Shiro!” Keith shouts back, equally loud and happy as he squirms under the embrace, trying to turn around and hug properly, but the older teen wouldn’t have it, “You big jerk, get off - _hah_!”

So, _that’s_ Shiro. Lance hums to himself at the revelation, watching them carefully as Keith keeps trying to escape his cousin’s hold.

With the sight of those arms? Good luck there, Keith.

“No way! This is payback for all those times you jumped on my back as a greeting, you tiny jerk!” Shiro laughs, huffing when Keith’s elbow connects with his ribs, “Ow, easy!”

“Psh, as if! That was payback for getting the attic every single year!”

“Wait,” Shiro pauses, eyes narrowed in suspicion before he gasps dramatically, “No way! You got The Room?”

Keith throws his head to the side to catch his cousin’s eye before he’s smiling smugly. “Heck yeah, I got The Room.”

“You little shit!”

“Ack!”

Lance stares unblinkingly at the once upright pair as they fall onto the floor, looking like a mess of tangled limbs together and shoving their faces away from the other in a weird kind of wrestling style.

It’s amusing, but not enough for Lance to stick around. He walks around them carefully, not wanting to get their attention and then he walks towards the living room, where both Kolivan and Thace stand next to a young woman.

She’s tall, dark skinned and a pretty slim figure hugging her shorts and tank top. Her hair is a light blonde, under the light almost giving it a sight of being entirely white, while being all tied up in a high ponytail.

_Damn_ , and those _eyes_.

Lance allows himself to appreciate the visual and then he grins, pushing his hair back while cracking his neck cockily before walking towards the trio.

“Why, hello there, the name’s Lance,” he introduces himself, doing a dramatic bow in front of her before rising his head and winking at her, “and what is the name that you have been graced with, princess?”

The woman raises an eyebrow at him before she looks back at Thace confused, mouth twitching in amusement when Thace blinks back at her, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Allura, this is Lance, Keith’s _boyfriend_ ,” Thace says then, reminding Lance that _oh yeah, I do have one of those_ , “Lance, this is Allura, the daughter of Alfor, a childhood friend of ours, and Coran’s niece.”

“Oh,” Lance drags out softly, pushing himself back until he’s standing straight once again, head tilted to the side.

Thace puts a hand over Allura’s shoulder, grinning playfully down at her. “Yeah, she’s practically family, I have known her since she was in diapers.”

“Oh no, there will be no Baby Allura Memories this time around,” the young teen shakes her head, hands waving and making a cross in front of her, “Let me enjoy the fact that neither my dad or uncle were able to come this year and add more stuff to that particular book.”

“I didn’t know Mr. Smythe had a niece,” Lance smiles, this time more genuine and friendly and doesn’t see the way Allura’s shoulders relax at it, “Your Uncle is amazing! He told us all about his adventure in the Sahara Desert with your dad! Did they really wrestle a camel?”

Allura smiles back, small giggles leaving her lips before she rolls her eyes. “I can’t believe he’s still telling that story but answering your question: yes, yes they did.”

“No way, dude!”

Allura laughs and nods her head, “Yes way!”

“Tell me more?” Lance asks and Allura beams at him, clearly not being the only one in her family to enjoy sharing embarrassing stories.

She’s half way through the story when Shiro and Keith stumbled back into the living room, Shiro’s prosthetic wrapped around Keith’s shoulder as he pulls the teen closer to him to ruffled his hair annoyingly.

“Allura, this is a sad day because it’s the day we won’t get The Room.” Shiro mock sighs before placing his flesh hand over his chest dramatically, “May we rest in peace.”

“Takashi, you don’t even like that room that much,” Allura rolls her eyes but there’s an amused smirk on her lips.

Shiro immediately recovers. “Yeah, I know, but Keith does, and it’s hilarious to get under his skin.”

“I knew it!”

Lance snorts at the exchange between the trio, the conversation reminding him so much of the ones he would have with his own family members. It’s endearing and familiar, it sets him at ease to be surrounded by such comforting environment.

“Hey, man, I don’t think we have met yet; I’m Lance,” he waves his hands before standing up from the couch and walking towards the pair, offering his hand, “Nice to meet you.”

Shiro blinks at him before smiling and shaking Lance’s hand with his prosthetic. “Oh, shit, I’m sorry, man, I didn’t even see you. I’m Takashi, but you can call me Shiro.”

Lance grins back at him and nods, handshake strong and firm and he can feel Keith’s heavy stare at the exchange. He dares to looks to the side, to meet Keith’s eyes and he’s surprised to see that the teen’s eyes are on their hands, eyebrows furrowed together as if waiting for something before he relaxes and his mouth twitches in approval.

Lance arches an eyebrow at the action but he has no time to question it because he feels two hands over his shoulders.

“Takashi Shirogane, are you telling me you didn’t know about Keith’s boyfriend either?” Thace says, bemused at the exchange as he leans behind Lance and looks over to meet his son’s eyes, clicking his tongue in mocking disapproval, “Damn, son, you really had him hidden.”

“One week dating, dad.” Keith reminds him flatly.

“Keith’s boy...friend?” Shiro frowns, looking between the pair before his eyes fall on Lance and then he gasps, “Oh, shit, you are _that_ Lance¡? Keith, you -!”

“Alright, yeah, okay, so!” Keith cuts him off, smiling tightly as he covers his cousin’s mouth with his hand, smiling nervously at his dad.

Shiro splutters, hands flying in confusion, words muffled but understandable. “But you said that he -!”

“Shiro, I love you like a brother, but I swear I will kick you.” Keith hisses under his breath as he pinches the older teen on his side, ignoring the yelp of pain coming from him.

“So...you knew?” Thace asks again, hands going to his hips as he stares down at the pair suspiciously.

“Yep, yeah! I knew, I just...it took me by surprise because woah, there are so many Lances in this world, am I right?” Shiro laughs slowly, slapping Keith’s back with a little too much force, not looking at all guilty even the teen almost stumbles down, “Yep, I knew about his love affair. Kids these days, huh?”

Thace looks amused at the answer before he chuckles. “And you didn’t think about telling me?”

Shiro shrugs, offering a small apologetic smile. “Not my place to share, Uncle.”

Thace snaps his fingers, “Damn you and your honor code, Takashi.”

“If you are all done with the introductions and such, I request help to start getting lunch ready.” Kolivan declares, passing the small group the created at the entrance of the living room to get to the kitchen, “Thace, with me, come on.”

“Jeez, even when retired he still acts like a police officer,” Thace whispers jokingly among the teens before he claps Keith on the back and sends them all a look, “Behave, everyone, the rest of the family shouldn’t take long, call us if you need anything.”

The four teens wave back at him silently, each other them with a weird smile on their faces. As soon as Thace’s back disappears behind the wall, the small group turn around to meet each other.

“Okay, so, am I the only one thinking: _‘what the actual fuck’_?” Shiro asks, looking at the trio in front of him expectantly and laughing when Allura only shrugs at him, “ _Babe_!”

“I don’t know, love, I’m just enjoying the show, to be quite honest.” She says, smiling when the older teen laughs harder and high fives her.

“Wait, wait, wait, ‘love’, ‘babe’?” Lance questions, looking bewildered between the pair, “You guys are an item?”

“Well, duh?” Keith says, eyebrow arched judgmentally, “You didn’t know?”

“Keith, you don’t share shit.” Lance deadpans, sending the teen a flat look which Keith returns.

“It’s fine; yes, Shiro and I are together. There, confusion cleared.”

Shiro raises his hand, blinking at his girlfriend's statement. “Um, no, I’m still pretty much confused, especially when my cousin is in a sudden relationship with the guy who gave him a black eye.”

“To be fair, he gave me this,” Lance points at his small cut on the corner of his lower lip, “I’m still salty about it.”

Keith rolls his eyes. “It’s a long story: Dad caught us on our way out of detention and I couldn’t tell him I had detention so I just...made some shit up.”

“I’m the ‘shit up’.” Lance raises his hand.

“Are you guys...sure about this?” Shiro asks slowly, eyeing both teens carefully. Keith and Lance share a look before turning back to the older teen.

“You say that as if it was a big deal.” Lance shrugs, leaning back on the couch and crossing his arms.

Keith nods next to him nonchalantly, ignoring the look Shiro sends his way.

“I know, I know but this is just a really freaky fanfiction scenario, ya know?” Shiro says, raising both hands in surrender when both teens yelp in indignation, “I’m just saying, you guys! It’s literally a fandom trope! One of you might fall in love and _bam_ , there’s the angst.”

“Dude, what the fuck?” Keith hisses incredulous, dragging his hands over his face. Meanwhile, Lance dedicates himself to just make gagging noises on the background.

“Fine, fine, ignore me! I will help you with this fanfic development, or whatever,” Shiro agrees tiredly before flopping himself back on the loveseat behind him, “But you owe me!”

Keith glares at him as he waves him off. “Yeah, that’s fine.”

“So,” Lance whistles casually, and pointing at the Shiro and Allura, “Is this Shallura thing new or - Ow!” Lance grunts, rubbing the back of his head while glaring at Keith who glares back.

“Really, Lance? You are going to flirt with my cousin’s girlfriend?”

“I was just asking! It’s not my fault she’s a goddess!”

Allura laughs, shaking her head in amusement as she leans towards her boyfriend. “I like him, he’s funny.”

Shiro throws his flesh arm around her in automatic, eyebrow raised before grinning. “Should I be jealous?”

Allura clicks her tongue playfully. “Nah, his ears are weird.”

Lance gasps loudly at that, hand flying to his ears as he stares wide eyed at Allura. “Well, these weird ass looking ears heard you just fine, thank you very much.”

Keith laughs while rolling his eyes. "Psh, don’t be so extra, Lance, besides," he pauses, nudging the brunet with his shoulder and offering a teasing smile, "I think they look fine."

Lance blinks, stomach flipping when Keith’s suddenly too close to him and he flicks his ear, making emphasis on his previous statement.

“Uh, I mean, yeah, duh, of course they are fine. All of me is fine as heck, of course.” Lance rambles, throwing a hand over his hair and looking away.

Keith must have noticed what he just did because there’s suddenly a faint blush covering his cheeks and he leans back from the brunet, looking the other way and avoiding Lance’s way entirely.

“Yeah, sure, not a fanfic, okay.” Shiro mumbles quietly under his breath before yelping when Allura slaps his arm, “Ow.”

 

* * *

 

It takes around forty-five minutes before the entire family is gathered around. It’s not as wild as Lance had originally thought, him being used to crowded spaces and yet here he is, shifting shyly under his feet as Keith’s uncles, aunts and cousins showering him with casual questions and friendly pats, varying from his relationship with Keith to ask him about his own likes, genuinely enjoying getting to know more about him.

There are a lot of people. Not much, nothing like his family back at Cuba, but Lance still lost count after Shiro’s guardian arrived along with another man with two kids, around half an hour ago.

Uncle Ulaz and Uncle Antok, Keith had introduced them as, both older brothers from his dad. Lance had stood by the side as both children ran pass them and then watched as Keith greeted both of his uncles, happy and playful as they had ruffled his hair once they had been close enough.

He had quickly noticed the lack of words coming from Antok, not needing to be a genius to catch the familiar hand movement that comes when speaking sign language, especially when Keith would nod and reply out loud to his Uncle’s silent questions.

When it was time to introduce him as Keith’s boyfriend, Lance made sure to shake both of their hands strongly. They stayed with them for a few minutes, both teens nodding at whatever Ulaz was saying, with the occasional comment from Antok.

Then there had been this one moment, when Antok has finished signing something when Keith had turned to Lance, explanation on the tip of his tongue, before Lance had beat him to it, answering Antok’s questions out loud and adding a small singing at the end to get his point across easier.

Both adults make sure to hide their surprise well, smiles small as they stare down at him approvingly but Keith’s shocked face causes Lance to laugh incredulously.

“What? You’re not the only one with hidden talents, babe.” Lance had teased softly, patting Keith on the cheek patronizingly and laughing when the teen tries to slap his arm, annoyed.

“That’s impressive, Lance, not anyone can have such fluid sign language.” Ulaz had praise softly right after, “Can I ask how it came to be?”

Lance had nodded, already used to the question. “One of my older cousins is deaf, so I practically grew up with it. It’s not that useful when your entire family knows it too, though, and you can't get away with the pranks, to be honest.”

The small group had shared a laugh at that, but Keith had only stared at him with surprise, mouth opening to speak but no words coming out. Lance had shrugged and smiled back at him, almost shyly before turning back to Ulaz.

_‘I like him,’_ Antok had signed to Keith a few minutes later, when they thought Lance’s attention was somewhere else.

_‘So does the rest of the family, apparently,’_ Keith signs back, looking confused but there’s a satisfied small grin on his face.

_‘Only the family?’_ Antok teases, nudging the teen on the side and silently laughing when the teen groans.

Lance wasn’t sure what that meant for him, but having the approval of most family members, he’s making sure to gloat about it to Keith later on.

Right now, though, he sits on the middle of the couch sandwiched between Ulaz and Keith while the entire family shouts and nudges verbally at the black-haired teen.

“Song, song, song, song!”

Lance watches as Keith groans at his family's chant, hiding his face in his hands in hopes that it would make him disappear. It doesn’t work, if anything, it only makes the chant to grow louder and Lance’s grin widens in amusement.

“What’s happening right now?” Lance asks him but it’s Shiro who answers.

“We have something close to a family tradition where after lunch we gather around the living room and just hang out -”

“Takashi –” Keith whines but the older teen ignores him.

“So! Keith usually sing when it’s his turn, ever since he was like five years old; by now it’s a Must-Do thing that he cannot _not_ do, ya know?”

“I didn’t know you could sing,” Lance whispers, a confused frown in his face but his smile is soft and amused.

“Oh, boy, this kid can sing, alright,” Thace chuckles, clapping his son on the shoulder from behind, a proud gleam in his amber eyes as he looks down at Keith, “When he was younger, he used to take the wireless microphone everywhere he went and sing to whoever was around. He will sing them a song, let it be to Old Mrs. Owen in the supermarket or the fishes at the lake. You really couldn’t rip that mic off him, honestly.”

“Younger? You surely mean last month, right?” Ulaz teases from the couch, leg swung over his knee.

The room explodes with laughter and light teasing all while Keith stares blankly at his Uncle before snapping his head to Thace, accusatory glare in place.

“Dad!”

The adult raises both of his hands in mock surrender. “I’m sorry, son, but it’s not my fault you decide to have random concerts in the living room. That video had to be shared.”

“Privacy, _oh my god.”_

Lance stares from the side at the scene, his smile turning softer by the second as he watches Keith flushing in embarrassment by his family's tactics but Lance can easily see the fond look on his navy eyes and the way his mouth twitches upward, easily showing he’s not that mad about the turn of events.

“Come on, Keithy-boy! Don’t be a party pooper! It’s your time to shine in front of your boyfriend!” One of his older cousins shouts, nudging the teen from the back behind the couch and cheering when half of the family encourages him.

Something inside Lance flips the moment Keith laughs freely at the teasing, not looking bothered at all. Lance can only blink as Keith is pushed out of his seat until he’s standing next to the fireplace reluctantly with a fake pout on his face.

“Fine, fine, you pile of bullies, I’m going to sing.” Keith declares, sticking out his tongue when Shiro playfully bows to him and handles him the wireless mic, “But I’m choosing the song!”

“Not High School Musical, please!” Someone on the back shouts, making Keith flush in embarrassment.

“That was _one_ time! Let it die, Zach!”

“Holy shit, you used to sing High School Musical?” Lance chokes, his laughter making him shake as he stares incredulously at Keith.

Keith glares down at him, cocking his hip to the side. “Psh, as if you didn’t, Lance.”

“I’m not denying it, _sweetheart_ , but damn, I never thought the HSM Fever extended all the way to you,” Lance says, shrugging his shoulders innocently and flashing the teen a charming smile.

He cocks his head to the side when Keith looks away at the action but then Allura is shouting next to his ear.

“Oh my gosh! HSM duet!” She says, hands on Lance’s shoulders as she shakes him to make a bigger emphasis, “ _Breaking Free_ Klance edition!”

“Klance? Really?” Keith deadpans and Lance grins.

“I like the ship name, I don’t like the song.”

He doesn't really have a say on it, though, because as soon as the option is out, the entire family shares their agreement. Allura is quick to push Lance out of his seat, making him yelp in surprise because _holy shit, those toned arms are not only for show,_ and then he’s standing next to his fake boyfriend, shifting nervously under the entire family’s stare.

Lance waves awkwardly before he grabs Keith’s bicep and turns him around, giving the family their backs.

“I have regrets,” Lance whispers lowly under his breath, leaning on Keith’s ear for only him to hear.

“You and me both, _honey_.” Keith replies, gritting his teeth.

“Okay, so, maybe we can get away with it if we sing a different duet?” Lance suggests, leaning closer to share his idea and grins when Keith matches it with his own.

“You are full of surprises, huh, McClain?” Keith teases and Lance winks at him.

“You have seen nothing, babe.”

Keith laughs, shaking his head before half turning towards the audience. “Allura! You are requested please!” he shouts then, waving the older teen forward.

With a shrug, Allura stands up from the couch's armrest and stands before the teens, rolling her eyes as they whisper their idea but she still smiles amusedly.

“Fine, fine, you got who is who?” She asks as she puts herself behind them.

Both teens share a look before they narrow their eyes in challenge.

_‘You going down.’_ Lance mouths silently.

_‘Bring it, wet noodle.’_ Keith mouths back, shaking his mic in the air in mock.

The song starts and the family confusion starts to show as they don’t recognize the beginning of the melody except for Thace, who cheers loudly.

“What is this?” Kolivan asks bewildered and looks startled when Thace shakes him.

“The best musical in the entire word, brother!”

“I can’t believe he’s still in his Hamilton phase.” Shiro whines, sliding down the couch with a pout.

Allura clears her throat, effectively shushing them all before she opens her mouth. _“Ladies and Gentlemen! You could have been anywhere else in the world tonight but you’re here with us in New York City,”_ There’s a snort on the side and she doesn’t need to turn around to know it came from Shiro, _“Are you ready, for a Cabinet meeting, huh¡?”_

Lance jumps on his feet as Allura finishes her part. He shots Keith a wink from his side of the ‘stage’ and laughs when the teen flips him off with his glare.

_“Secretary Jefferson, you have the floor, sir.”_ Allura says, not looking at neither of them and Lance waits for Keith to open his mouth before he steps in and cuts him off before he can even start.

_“Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. We fought for these ideals; we shouldn’t settle for less,”_ Lance starts, words falling out of his mouth effortlessly as he follows the song’s melody and his smirk just smirks as Keith stares at him in disbelief, _“These are wise words, enterprising men quote ‘em Don’t act surprised, you guys, cuz I wrote ‘em.”_

“You piece of shit, I was Jefferson!” Keith yelps offended, glaring at the singing brunet and slapping Lance’s hand away when the teen shakes his finger in his face.

_“Oow, but Hamilton forgets his plan would have the government assume state’s debts,”_ Lance laughs, the character’s personality easily mixing with his own as he moves around his spot and gives quite the show as he continues, _“Now, place your bets as to who that benefits: The very seat of government where Hamilton sits.”_

Keith, finally accepting his fate, scowls and point at him, singing his character’s part. _“Not true!”_

The family looks confused at the exchange of words, especially at the sudden rap battle that is playing in front of them, but soon enough, they are entranced, leaning forward and some of them even taking their phones out.

It makes Lance feel giddy, playful and daring. He finishes his verse, hands flying all over the place as he raps and then he makes fingerguns at Keith when he’s done, blowing a mocking kiss towards the teen.

Keith doesn't look amused.

Allura sings then, signaling Keith his part and then, finally, a smirk grows on Keith’s lip and Lance blinks in confusion.

_“Thomas. That was a real nice declaration. Welcome to the present, we’re running a real nation, would you like to join us, or stay mellow doin’ whatever it is you do in Monticello?”_ Keith snaps, lyrics practiced and so on point that it makes Lance step back in surprise. He hears the way the family goes _‘Oooh burn’_ at the words and it only makes the fire inside him to grow.

Keith’s smirks turn smug as he continues to rap his part. _“And another thing, Mr. Age of Enlightenment, don’t lecture me about the war, you didn’t fight in it. You think I’m frightened of you, man? We almost died in a trench while you were off getting high with the French.”_

Lance dramatically gasps at the fake accusation, whispering a soft _‘how dare you, boo?’_ that makes the entire family laugh amusedly and Lance sees the small twitch in Keith’s lips as the teen tries on not to break character.

_“Sittin’ there useless as two shits! Hey, turn around, bend over, I’ll show you Where my shoe fits.”_ Keith finishes, spanning his fingers in front of Lance’s face with a confident smirk and Lance waves him off, playing along with the song’s character and then Allura’s singing again.

There’s this part where Allura tells Keith that he doesn't have the votes, following the lyrics pace, and Lance can’t help but laugh when the entire family echoes the lyrics, making upbeat sound to go along with the rapping.

Lance cracks his neck as he waits for his favorite part to come. He leans back, arms crossed over his chest as he winks at Keith and then he finishes off his part of the song.

_“Such a blunder sometimes it makes me wonder why I even bring the thunder,”_ Lance sings, grin growing when he feels a heavy hand on his shoulder and someone leaning against him like a partner in crime.

_“Why he even brings the thunder!”_ Thace echoes, not missing a beat of the song as he sings it.

Then there’s Shiro out of the sudden, popping his head behind Lance as he waves his prosthetic and cups his mouth to echo is _‘Oooh boy, you got served!’_

“Dad? What kind of betrayal is this?” Keith whispers, left eye twitching in annoyance at the display in front of him.

Thace smiles sheepishly at him. “Sorry, son, I just love that part too much.”

“It’s okay, babe, I will let you win on the next meeting, alright?” Lance says, patting him on the cheek.

Keith huffs a laugh, shaking his head in amusement as he narrows his eyes at Lance without any real heat behind. “You smug pizza shit.”

Lance limits himself to wink at him.

“Okay, but who’s ready for _Guns and Ships_?” Shiro asks, holding up one of the microphones above him and yelping when both teens tackle him.

“Bet I can do the entire rap without missing a beat!”

“Oh, yeah! I wanna see you try, _babe_!”

“You are on!”

It’s a foreign feeling, laughing along with Keith as they both try to reach the same microphone. Lance’s entire body shakes as he wraps his arms around Keith’s waist in a weak attempt to pull him back, face pressed against his stomach and yelps when Keith tries to shove him by the face.

It’s funny, and playful, and the entire wrestling feels natural, as if they were actually friends and they enjoyed doing this every other day.

It makes him smile, because as Keith succeeds, finally pushing him far away enough for him to get the mic, and cheers happily at his silly victory, Lance realizes that maybe everything he knew about Keith Kogane was wrong.

Maybe Keith wasn’t that bad after all.

 

* * *

 

Keith’s cheeks hurt from laughing and smiling so much. It’s been such a long time since he had laughed as hard as he did when Lance sung the entire _Burn_ song from the musical. The brunet had a nice voice, Keith had to admit, hitting the right notes and the acting and dancing made along the way was fun to watch.

They had probably done half of the musical by now, entering to Act 2 of the entire play and most of the family had joined at some point.

Even Uncle Kolivan and Uncle Ulaz had joined, the both adults trying to follow the lyrics shown in the small tablet that had been held by Thace as they try to sing _Take A Break_ with Thace serving the role of Hamilton and joining their duet.

To say it was a surprise that Lance and he had something in common was an understatement. It blew Keith’s mind that he could share the same likes with the brunet.

This...dynamic, if they could call it that, felt so natural. It settled down with them accordingly and Keith would bet that maybe there could be the start of a friendship somewhere in there.

Maybe Lance wasn’t so bad after all.

Allura pushing and shouts from behind snaps him back to reality and Keith laughs as he sees the dramatic scene in front of him from the song _The World Was Wide Enough_ , with Shiro standing above a falling Lance as the brunet lifts his hand and tries to reach Keith.

“Keith! Go cradle your dying love, right now!” The family shouts, too entranced with the musical that they needed to know how it ended.

Keith rolls his eyes but still stands up, kneeling next to Lance as the brunet fake coughs. The teen grunts as he pulls Lance’s weight on him, letting Lance’s head to rest against his lap.

Lance blinks his eyes open, mouth twitching in amusement at Keith’s blank expression before he lifts his hand and cups his pale cheek, thumb rubbing a little just below Keith’s black eye.

_“My love, take your time,”_ Lance sings, the entire living room dead quiet as they listen carefully to the brunet’s words as he ‘dies’, _“I will see you on the other side.”_

“That’s before you get shot, you moron.” Keith deadpans and yelps when the hand on his cheek slaps him, “Hey!”

“I said _take your time, love._ ”

There’s a few chuckles and snorts coming from their little audience but both teens ignore them.

“‘kay, bye.” Keith shrugs, hands already lifting to drop Lance but someone shouts.

“No!!! What happened to the kiss! Eliza! He’s dying, Eliza!”

“Zach, I swear to god!” Keith glares at his cousin, almost flipping him off but the hand on his cheek pulls him back and then Lance’s staring at him.

“Do it.” Lance says firmly, “I mean, it’s supposed to be something we usually do right? Do it, it’s just a kiss.”

Keith blinks, because that’s all he can do as he processes Lance’s words and then the family is chanting again, screaming for a kiss between the two, still enamored with the play that didn’t even happen in the actual musical but it’s too late now to convince them otherwise.

Keith swallows down and then he leans forward, intentionally missing Lance’s lips and dropping his own on the brunet’s forehead.

_“I’ll see you on the other side,”_ he whispers quietly the lyrics against the tanned skin before pulling away.

He misses Lance’s reaction, as the family erupts in cheers and mocking sobs. Shiro continues with the next verse as if nothing had happened and then Lance is standing up from the floor, dusting himself up and clearing his throat awkwardly.

Keith stands beside him, rubbing the back of his neck and hoping that the blush he feels on his cheeks goes unnoticed as they bow to the family’s applause and continue with the play.

 

* * *

 

Lance stretches his arms over his head and waits until his shoulder pops to sigh contently. Allowing himself to fall face down in the bed, groaning loudly in pleasure as the soft sheets hit his face.

“Careful there; keep groaning and they might think we are having other activities,” Keith teases, closing the bathroom’s door behind him and Lance flips him off without lifting his head from the bed before he groans and pushes himself back.

“Damn my beauty regimen, I’m so tired.” He whines, grabbing a few creams that were on the dresser before heading towards the bathroom.

“I told you they were unnecessary.” Keith singsongs as Lance passes by him and the brunet limits himself to raise his hand in mock, mimicking the teen’s words.

It’s a while before Lance’s done with his beauty ritual and changed into his silky blue pajamas. He’s singing quietly to himself as he exits the bathroom, room already dark with only the lamp on the nightstand turned on, but stops short when he sees the image in front of him.

“Keith,” he calls slowly and the teen waits until the other hums in acknowledgment before he continues, “Question: what are you doing?”

Keith, still laying on a messy bed made of blankets on the floor next to the bed, limits himself to shrugs nonchalantly. “Sleeping.”

“On the floor.” Lance deadpans.

Keith shrugs again. “I mean, yeah.”

“Get off the floor, you heathen, _unsanitary as hell_.”

The teen groans when Lance kicks him on the shin at the end of his weird bed. “Lance, it’s fine. There’s only one bed in the room, you can have it, I don’t mind.”

“Is this because of the bed? Dude, it’s a Queen’s size, we can share it; it’s not a big deal.” Lance scoffs, crossing his arms over his chest and raises his eyebrow when Keith looks at him in surprise, “What?”

“You...want to share a bed with me?” Keith asks slowly and Lance pauses before he shrieks.

“Ew! Not like that, you perv!” Lance shouts, thanking himself for going through his beauty regimen so his facemask could cover the raging blush on his cheeks.

“What!? I didn’t mean that! I meant it like I thought you hated me so much that you wouldn't want to, ya know, sleep in the same room even, let alone the same bed!”

“Keith, _jesus_ , it’s just a bed! I have shared a bed with my cousins and siblings since I was five, it’s not that weird.” Lance rolls his eyes, kicking the black haired teen once again, “Come on, mullet, up you go.”

“Stop kicking me.” Keith grumbles but still groans as he stands up, grabbing his pillow on the way, “Okay, fine, so uh, what side do you -”

Keith barely has time to blink before Lance springs forwards and flops himself on the right side of the bed, falling on his back and grinning widely as he sinks deep into the blankets.

“Rude.” Keith deadpans but makes his way towards his own side, hesitating just a second before he sits on the edge of the bed and then lays down slowly.

They lay in awkward silence for a few seconds before Lance clears his throat.

“Nice pjs, by the way” Lance says, turning his head to the side to point at Keith’s outfit with his eyes,  eyebrow wiggling playfully at Keith’s baggy NASA t-shirt and red squares pants.

“You’re one to talk, Mr. Silky Blue.”

Lance slaps him with the back of his hand in the stomach. “You’re just jelly of my cool pjs, man.”

“Whatever you say, dude.” Keith huffs a laugh and waves him off, “I’m turning the lights off.”

They are careful to not trespass the other’s side, and Lance can't help but frown a little as he senses Keith’s tense shoulders. He can’t blame him, though, because Lance feels the same way. It’s a scenario he never thought he would be in: laying down on the same bed in the dark with Keith Kogane.

Fair, maybe the bed thing had crossed his mind but not the _laying_ down part.

It feels oddly intimate, the darkness only making it weirder. Lance moves on his spot, arms crossed over his chest before untangling them and flopping them to his side before bouncing and laying on his side and then groaning and bouncing again until he’s laying on his back again.

“I swear that if you move one more time I’m pushing you out of the bed.” Keith warns lowly and Lance huffs in exasperation, a pout in his lips but he settles down anyways, eyes fixed on the small skylight above him.

Lance sighs, rubbing his face with one hand tiredly and wets his lips to talk, the silence turning a little too overwhelming for him.

“What a day, huh?” He tries awkwardly.

Keith hums not a second later. “You can say that again.”

“I was actually surprised that most of the family didn’t stay the night; what gives?”

He feels Keith’s shrug as he answers. “Most of them live near town; the only ones who make a long trip to get here is Uncle Ulaz, Uncle Antok and, of course, Shiro, dad and me.”

“That’s cool, it gives you all a reason to visit more often, huh?”

“Yeah, it’s really nice to be able to see them again…it’s been a while.”

Lance doesn’t pry, he leaves it as that, clearly hearing the faint edge on Keith’s words. Instead, he plays with the edge of his sleeve again, turning it and twisting it anxiously, mouth opening and closing several times in the darkness but then Keith’s voice breaks the silence.

“Hey...Lance?”

Lance hums in acknowledgement and it’s enough for Keith to continue.

“Thank you for...not being weird about it.”

At the words, Lance’s eyebrows furrow together in confusion. “What do you mean, man?”

“You know, I know Shiro’s prosthetic is a lil’ of a throw off the first time but you didn’t even flinch, that’s...not everyone can… ugh, look, I’m just saying, thank you, you know, for not making it weird.”

“Huh, so that’s why…you had that weird look on your face when he and I shook hands?” Lance wonders out loud, curiosity clear in his tone with no malice whatsoever; it sets Keith’s shoulders a little more at ease.

“Yeah, sometimes I get little too protective with him, I just…He’s been through a lot.”

“I can respect that.” Lance nods, “But just so you know, there’s nothing to be weird out about, man,” he reassurance casually, shrugging his shoulders, “Your family really is amazing, Keith; every single one of them.”

There’s a pause before Keith sighs, almost fondly.

“Yeah...yeah they are.”

Lance can hear the soft smile he has seen on Keith’s lips the entire day in his words. It feels a little personal, like Lance shouldn’t be allowed to see this part of Keith and his family, at least not yet, not when it feels like he’s lying to their faces and it’s something that’s off limits from their established rules in this entire ordeal.

It makes him feel funny, just like the times before when he caught Keith laughing or smiling. He does his best to push it aside, deep down where it can stay buried. He doesn’t know where they stand now but something inside him urges him to find out.

“Hey, Keith?” Lance calls slowly and doesn’t wait for Keith’s answer before he blurts out, “About what you said earlier... I don’t hate you, ya know, I uh...you’re not that bad, actually, you’re kind of maybe just a _lil’ bit_ cool, but only because you like Hamilton and _I_ like Hamilton and _I’m_ cool so it’s a given thing and yeah, _duh_ –”

Lance swallows, fingers playing with the edge of his long sleeve as he stares at the skylight as he shuts his mouth mid rambling. This territory is new for him, this honesty and comforting space with Keith is something he never thought it was possible and yet here they are.

He waits in silence and he’s almost sure that Keith had fallen asleep before his voice reappears.

“You think I’m cool?” Keith teases playfully.

Lance groans pitifully. “Shut up, you jerk, don’t make me repeat it.”

Keith’s quiet laughter echoes around the dark room before he speaks up. “You are...not that bad yourself, McClain.”

The statement makes Lance to smile, heart doing a hard tug inside him and he thanks the darkness around him that provides a hidden place for his toothy smile.

“I still think your mullet is stupid though,” Lance singsongs annoyingly, barely being able to keep his laugh at bay when Keith groans.

“I take it back; you’re awful.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oooooooooooh my god it feels good to come back.
> 
> This chapter, I tell no lie, was avoided for like a MONTH bc I didn't know what the heck I was doing but then I kicked my ass and started writing and holy shit you guys, IT FUCKING FLOW SO WELL, well for me.
> 
> So yeah! Here's the new chap, I hope you enjoy and I HOPE YOU LIKE PINING LANCE BC THAT'S WHAT U GETTING. <3
> 
> Also, Lance is singing [this song.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPg_HJVR_Do)  
> Disclaimer: Voltron doesn't belong to me and neither does the song.

Lance sings under his breath, the music coming from his phone next to the sink making him dance a little on the spot.

A small smile grows on his lips as he pulls the towel on his head off, quickly grabbing the hairbrush next to him, lyrics still leaving his lips.

_ “Te está esperando, nos va alcanzando la luz del día,”  _ Lance sings, hips moving with the rhythm as he uses the hairbrush as his microphone,  _ “Que todo lo malo lo va borrando nuestra alegría. Lo digo y lo digo, te está esperando, mira!” _

There’s a background noise coming from outside the bathroom though and Lance is no stranger to it, knowing full well who was the origin of it. When Lance woke up today, he had been aware of two things: One, how close Keith’s face had been near his own and two, the small tent decorating his pajama pants.

To say that Lance made a run for it to the bathroom to save himself from embarrassment is an understatement, but a fair one.

Although, if fairness comes to play, it’s also understandable that Lance tried to convince himself that having a boner early in the morning is a logical teenager thing to have, especially when there’s a wet dream lying next to you.

Damn Keith and his actually good looks.

Lance shakes his head, rolling his eyes when his thoughts start drifting around the topic. He hums the song as he reaches for his green cream and starts applying it to his face, the knocking still playing as a background sound with the music.

Lance honestly hadn't thought that Keith would wake up shortly after him, Lance being barely out of the shower when the knocking started, but he had called dibs on the bathroom and like hell he was giving it up so soon.

And yes, hour and a half is still considered too soon.

It’s not that he’s selfish  _ \- maybe a little -  _ but this is a lifetime opportunity for Lance; finally being able to have his own bathroom with no annoying siblings waiting at the door was a blessing and the mere thought that he could go through his entire beauty regimen without any interruptions makes his stomach tingle with giddiness and -

The pounding on the door makes him sigh annoyed.

“Keith!” Lance shouts, hand pausing a breath away from his face and green cream sliding down his fingers as he turns back to glare at the door, “One more knock and I’m not leaving the bathroom for the rest of the day!”

“Lance, you have been there for like an hour!” Keith shouts back, irritation clear in his voice, “I need to pee  _ and  _ take a shower!”

“We’re next to a forest, Keith! Be creative!”

“Lance!”

Lance’s answer is to turn up the volume of his music louder, smirking when Keith’s indignant shouts start to fade.

_ “Que todo lo bueno llega,” _ Lance sings obnoxiously, smirking when he faintly hears Keith’s groan,  _ “Para recordarnos que lo vivido valió la pena!” _

“Asshole!”

Lance cackles, shaking his head in amusement as he turns back to face the mirror, continuing his task.

He loses track of the time but he’s sure that it wasn’t long before he catches movement in the mirror in front of him and Lance shrieks when he turns, meeting Keith’s eyes at the end.

“Keith!” Lance shouts, grabbing his forgotten towel from the sink to cover his naked chest, alarms in his head reminding him to pull his pj’s a little higher on his hips just in case, “Privacy! What the actual fuck!”

Keith blinks boredly at him, arching an eyebrow in the process. “Why is half of your face green?”

Because it makes him pretty but that’s not the point, Keith.

“How did you get in here?” Lance shots back instead, glaring down at the teen as Keith waves him off, heading towards the shower behind one of the doors inside the bathroom.

“You and Shiro will get along just fine,” Keith mumbles, “He also loves hogging the bathroom.”

“That doesn’t explain the how.” Lance rolls his eyes, tapping his foot against the floor as his eyes follow Keith’s figure.

Keith holds up a small bobby pin between his fingers. “Ta-dah!”

Lance glares. “I hate you.”

“Right back ya, baby cakes.” Keith jokes, patting Lance on his non-creamed cheek in mock before he closes the door behind him, “Now, get a move on, it’s almost breakfast and Uncle Kolivan is gonna make waffles.”

“Fine, fine.” Lance grumbles, turning back to the sink to rinse his face.

Gathering his beauty products, Lance taps his foot against the floor impatiently until he hears the shower turning on and then he smirks, whistling innocently as he flushes down the toilet next to him.

He runs like a mad man out of the bathroom as soon as Keith’s curses start addressing him directly.

 

* * *

“Hey, sweetie, you got a red mark near your neck.”

Keith slaps Lance’s hand away as the brunet tries to poke it. “Yeah, I wonder why. It’s not like my shower suddenly got extremely fucking hot out of nowhere. Nope, no way.”

Lance coos mockingly. “Aw, want me to kiss it better?”

“I hate you.” Keith deadpans as he takes a last turn and enters the dining room, knowing Lance’s not that far behind if he goes by the obnoxious laugher near him.

“Good morning, boys!” Thace greets warmly from the other side of the dining room, setting another pair of plates down carefully, “Good night sleep?”

Keith grumbles under his breath, making his way over the table while Lance limits himself to raise his hand as a greeting along with a polite smile.

“As good as Keith’s kicking allowed it to be,” Lance says, dodging with a cackle Keith’s fist that aimed at his arm, “Easy, babe!”

Keith limits himself to scoff at the pet name, looking away from Lance’s view, arms crossed against his chest.

“Oh, boy, don’t I know that.” Shiro scoffs as he enters the kitchen, flesh hand gripped tight with Allura’s, pj’s hanging loosely on his frame, “Sleeping with him was like sleeping with a baby kangaroo.”

“You would know.” Allura nudges him on the side, flashing him a smirk and Shiro looks flatly back at her.

“Yeah, because I went to a camping trip with your Uncle in Australia. Never again.”

“I wanna know about that.” Lance shouts, raising his hand high as if in class, making Allura beam in excitement and Shiro groan as he lets his face smack against the table.

Keith hums, turning away from the chatting as he plays with his silverware, blinking when he feels a hand on his head.

“You okay?” His dad asks, giving him a meaningful look for a few seconds until Keith nods.

“Yeah, yeah, why?” Keith asks, tilting his head to the side.

Thace stays silent, his eyes looking for something in Keith’s face before he nods to himself. “You look tired. You’re not having...you know.”

Oh, he knows, but no. He understands his dad’s worry, the nightmares from last year still fresh in both of their minds but it’s has gotten better over the last few months. They still didn’t compare to the ones he used to have a kid, and while the thought was comforting it was also sad.

Keith shakes his head, the faint memory of late nights full of nightmares and crying from when he was barely six years old lingering a little too long in his head. His hand reaches for the small crystal hanging on his loose shirt, gripping it tight, as if the mere act could chase those thoughts away.

“No, nothing like those, thank God.” Keith answers softly, offering a reassuring smile that grows when Thace ruffles his hair affectionately.

“Good.” Thace sighs in relief before his upbeat smile makes a comeback, “How’s the vacation so far? I sure missed this lake.”

Keith chuckles. “Yeah, yeah, it’s been awhile. I’m actually surprised everything looks the same.”

“Places don’t change, but people do.” Thace nods, “Remember that, son.”

Keith nods, eyes rolling with fond exasperation at his dad’s words. “Yes, yes, Mr. Wise Writer.” His dad limits himself to send him a grin.

“I take it Lance is also enjoying the visit?” Thace asks with a soft chuckle, eyes shining with amusement as the brunet starts his own story featuring his family.

“Yeah, believe me when I say he’s not suffering at all.”

_ Except by pretending to be my boyfriend, but details. _

“At least he’s having fun  _ and _ the family like him; maybe he’s a keeper.”

Keith resists the urge to snort at the suggestion. Yeah, sure, the time that Lance would be Keith’s keeper will be the same time Uncle Kolivan uses the cooking apron Uncle Antok gave him last Christmas.

“Is Uncle Ulaz coming in later?” Keith asks instead, offering a small smile when his dad passes him a glass of orange juice.

Thace nods, filling a second glass of orange juice and passing it to Keith once again. “Yeah, he is. He said -”

A loud bang coming from the kitchen cuts him off and it’s not even a second later when several crashing sounds appear, making every person in the dining room cringe.

“I’m gonna go see what’s up with that, be right back.” Thace sighs, leaving the jar of juice in the middle of the table before heading to the kitchen.

Keith hums as his dad leaves and he winces in sympathy when he hears his younger cousins’ squeals and shouts coming from it the door that connects with the kitchen.

He looks down at his plate then, bemused for a moment to see two glasses of orange juice before he turns to his side and sees Lance’s empty space next to his plate. Keith purses his lips but shrugs subtly, picking one of the glasses up and placing it carefully on Lance’s side.

He doesn’t expect for the brunet to turn to him abruptly, eyes wide in surprise and Keith’s mouth opens dumbly.

_ Did Lance...always had those blue eyes? _

“Um, orange juice?” Keith asks awkwardly a few seconds later in silence, cringing as he points to the offered glass.

Lance blinks, as if confused by the sudden offer before he looks towards where Keith’s pointing and then he grins. “Oh, yeah! Thanks, man.”

“Don’t you mean ‘babe’?” Shiro snickers from the other end of the table before he gasps in pain, grabbing his side after Allura’s sharp nudge.

Keith doesn’t have enough time to make his own attack towards his cousin before three adults and two small children exit the kitchen’s door.

“Ladies and Gentleman, your breakfast has arrived.” Thace announces happily, one of Antok’s children, Tessa, on his shoulders, “Courtesy of our host: Kolivan Grumpypants –”

“Really now.” Said man deadpans unamused.

“– and our terrifying and yet terrific dynamic duo: Tessa and Dominic.”

Both eight-years old raise their small arms, grinning happily as the entire rooms fills with cheers and praise. Keith laughs and holds up his hand, encouraging Dominic to high five him when the kid sits next to him.

“With the supervision, of course, of your humble servants: Antok Teddybear and I, Thace HandsomeFace.”

Thace laughs when his younger brother slaps him on the arm. “Alright, alright, enough goofing around. Let’s dig in!”

The entire table settles down, napkins and glasses passing around along with the silverware. Keith’s actually placing a big napkin on Dominic’s lap next to him before his Uncle’s voice catches his attention.

“Keith, what’s that red mark on your collarbone?” Kolivan asks, eyes narrowed in suspicion as he places a plate full of waffles down in the middle of the table.

Keith rolls his eyes, answer in the tip of his tongue before he perks up and a smirk slowly grows on his lips. He looks to his right, grin widening in excitement as he sees Lance taking a waffle from the plate, a big bite already on his mouth and that’s the moment Keith answers.

Oh, isn’t payback sweet?

“Make-out session got intense.” He says casually, picking up his glass of orange juice to hide his grin, “Lance got excited.”

Lance choking on his waffle was so worth his Dad’s exasperated sigh and Shiro’s gagging.

 

* * *

“Whose idea was this again?”

“Yours, you moron. You said, and I quote,  _ ‘That lake sure looks romantic, almost like a beach walk scene.’  _ Which lead Dad to suggest us to actually take a walk on it.”

“How was I supposed to know that was kinda asking for a date¡?”

“You literally said  _ romantic _ , Lance.”

“So, I forgot I apparently had a boyfriend, sue me.”

“I might as well.” Keith hisses with a tight smile as he pinches Lance’s blind side, ignoring the way the brunet yelps in pain.

Keith sighs, eyes looking subtly behind his shoulder to see if there were any more adults around and groaning when he sees the way Uncle Kolivan shifts his gaze as soon as he meets Keith’s eye, pretending to be fascinated by the lake’s swimming equipment.

“I can’t believe Uncle Kolivan is actually keeping an eye on us,” Keith mumbles grumpily under his breath, “As if we would have sex out in the open.”

“Well, whose idea was to say out loud that we apparently had a make out in the middle of the night?” Lance grumbles, rolling his eyes.

Keith gasps offended. “Excuse you, that was payback. You started it!”

“Shame on you and your kinks, Keith Kogane.”

“Lance!”

“Alright, alright. Look, might as well make this as innocent as possible, which means cutely fluffy couple PDA but keeping it PG.”

“I only got half of that.” Keith says flatly and yelps when Lance grasp his wrist and pulls him forward.

“Just, just follow my lead, you tense pickle.” Lance mumbles and Keith swallows thickly when he feels Lance’s hand wrapping itself around his own.

_ ‘He’s warm.’ _ Keith thinks, sneaking a quick glance towards their hands and he hums, stomach turning weirdly at the sight.

“You are so pale, dude, go hit a beach, jeez.”

Moment gone.

Keith rolls his eyes, mumbling something incoherent under his breath as he tugs Lance forward. “Maybe I should go to the beach with you next week, return the favor with your family.”

Lance snorts. “Oh, yeah, wouldn’t that make Mama throw an entire party.”

Keith pauses and glances towards Lance, kicking a small rock with the tip of his foot. “Wow, really? Do they think you’re that lonely?”

“Har, har, no, it’s not because of that – hey pass me that rock, thanks,” Lance hums, bouncing the rock a little on the palm of his free hand before he throws it towards the lake, groaning when it sinks almost instantly as soon as it touches the water, “Dang it – but yeah, it was because Mom really wanted to meet you after I told her I was spending a few days at your cabin.”

“Here, try it again,” Keith says, passing him another rock, “She knows about me?”

“Thanks, and yeah, I mean, we were in the same team, Keith, before you dropped out.”

“Did you tell her I was your fake boyfriend?”

“Nah, I told her we had a friend’s trip, ya know, to celebrate the end of the year and you had offered your cabin.” Lance says, grunting when the rock suffers the same fate as the previous one.

Keith hums. “Nice safe, horrible throw.”

“Jeez, thanks,  _ babe _ .” Lance pouts, kicking a pebble with his foot, “Why don’t you teach me, huh?”

“Okay.”

Lance blinks, head turning towards Keith in surprise as the teen crouches down, hand slipping away from Lance’s.

The brunet frowns a little at the sudden act, hand twitching uneasy, but shrugs his shoulders in the end as he watches Keith picking up a few rocks and pebbles.

“Okay, so, here’s how to do it,” Keith starts, dropping a few of the rocks on Lance’s hand, “You gotta select your chosen one, right?”

“Right.” Lance nods seriously but a smile grows on his lips when Keith nods back equally serious.

“Now, you gotta grip the stone real good, okay?”

“That shouldn’t sound so wrong.”

“I know, I didn’t think it through. I just threw up a little in my mouth.”

That earns him a laugh. “Oh my god.”

“Shut up, man,” Keith whines but smiles when Lance waves a hand at him, silently telling him to continue, “Alright, now, your pose: you gotta stand up straight –”

“I think we both just failed at that step.”

“Lance!” Keith shouts but the laughter in his words are unmistakable, throwing one of the smallest pebbles towards the brunet, “Shut up!”

“Sorry, sorry!”

Keith scoffs. “Ugh, just - just come here.”

Lance shrugs, taking a step forward and gasping softly when Keith’s hand covers his own, barely noticing the other hand placed on his hip.

“Okay, so, stand straight, yes,  _ straight _ , face the lake in a slight side angle.”

“Huh,” Lance mumbles dumbly, a sudden hurricane in his stomach when the hand on his hip forces him to shift on his feet. Lance swallows thickly, “Yeah, okay. Cool.”

“You okay?” Keith asks out of the sudden, arching an eyebrow in question but Lance just nods, “Okay, so, the lower your hand is at the release, the better.”

Lance yelps and Keith jumps on the spot. “What¡?”

“N-Nothing! Nothing!”

_ ‘Release?’  _ Lance thinks alarmed,  _ ‘This boy should be illegal.’ _

“Alright, Mr. Weirdo,” Keith says slowly, squinting his eye at the brunet in suspicion before he stands behind Lance and once again grasps his hand from behind, “All you gotta do is throw out and down at the same time and…”

He swipes their hands and Lance watches as the small stone skips a few times before it finally sinks, a little far from the lake’s edge where they stand.

“Oh,” Lance breaths out in surprise, a big excited grin spreading through his face, “Oh! Did you see that! Woah! Dude, I have never done this before!”

“Yeah, I could tell,” Keith jokes, nudging him playfully before offering a new stone, “Go on, try it out on your own.”

It takes him a few tries but Keith’s patient and encouraging. Lance pouts at his fifth try before he feels a warm pressure on his free hand and he looks surprised to see Keith’s hand wrapped around his own.

“Uncle Kolivan is watching, might as well put on a show,” Keith says, shrugging innocently and Lance doesn’t have time to look back to confirm the statement before Keith’s urging him to throw, “Come on! You can do it.”

Lance nods distracted before he turns back to the lake and takes a deep breath. He runs through Keith’s tips in his head one more time before he throws. He holds his breath until the stone skips a second time and then he’s cheering loud when it skips another four times.

“Oh my god, I did it?” Lance whispers, “Oh my god, I- I did it! Keith! Did you see that¡?”

“Yeah! Yeah, I did!”

“That was amazing! Oh my god, come here, you smol potato!” Lance laughs and without a warning, he leans down and drops a loud wet kiss on Keith’s cheek.

It’s a beat, maybe two, before the action processes in his head and then Lance’s freezing, hand slipping slowly from Keith’s.

“Uh,” he hears Keith says and Lance’s mind is running a mile per hour.

“Um, part of the act, you know, because of your Uncle, is he still watching? Was it convincing?” Lance asks, slapping himself in his mind to stop himself from rambling but he sighs in relief when Keith actually nods against him.

“Oh, uh, right, right, my uncle,” A pause and then, “Yeah, yeah, nice cover, that was...good, yeah.”

Lance nods, taking a step back from Keith’s personal bubble and he smacks his lips awkwardly. “Yeah okay so, uh…”

He blinks, confused at the sudden hold out hand in front of him before he looks up, meeting Keith’s unsure smile.

“Hey, don’t bail on me now, partner.” Keith whispers, offering a small smile.

“Oh, are we cowboys, now?” Lance teases but still locks his hand with Keith’s, stomach unknotting because this is familiar, this is a good zone to be in, he can work with the bickering and teasing and ignore the butterflies inside him, “Are your Texan roots finally coming to the surface?”

Keith laughs and the sound steals a smile out of Lance’s lips. The brunet looks down to see the contrast their hands make and he squeezes them in experiment.

A few minutes pass, their chatter turning playful and aimless as they continue to walk next to the lake. Keith cuts in from time to time, pointing at different parts of the lake, the woods that are on the other end of it, a silly story on point that always feature a small Keith with ten of his bigger cousins.

Lance would answer with a laugh and a story of his own, retelling his adventures back in Varadero Beach with his own siblings and cousins, making Keith to leans forward and ask him for more with a honest smile.

They lose track of the time and Lance has this sudden realization that they are still holding hands, shoulders pressed together, and he wonders if he should speak up.

“Are we uh, on the clear?” Lance asks under his breath, leaning closer to Keith’s side and waits for Keith.

“What? Oh, right uh.” Keith blinks slowly, head turning slowly to look behind him. “Oh, uh, Uncle Kolivan and Uncle Antok at three o’clock.”

Lance snorts a laugh, hand pressed against his mouth and doesn’t dwell on the fact that Keith actually sounds surprised at his Uncle’s presence. Weren’t the adults already...there? Wasn’t that why they were holding hands in the first place?

”Oh my god, three o’clock? That’s adorable, I didn’t know you were a dork.”

There had been two times, in Lance’s life, where he has seen Keith Kogane’s face red as the bike he rides. One time was a few weeks after he transferred when Lance accidentally dropped yogurt on his head that ended up in a food war and two weeks of detention and the second one being right now.

“S-shut up, man!” Keith shouts, ignoring the small stumble at the start of his words, blush raging steadily on his cheeks, “Just...hush, I don’t know, they are making their way towards us.”

Lance opens his mouth to answer when both men finally arrive, greeting them both with a nod.

Keith eyes them suspiciously and squeezes their hands in encouragement when he notices the way Lance unconsciously shrinks shyly under Uncle Kolivan’s stare. Keith’s reprimand towards his Uncle is at the tip of his tongue before he catches Uncle Antok’s signing.

“Oh, no, I know where those signs are going,” Keith whines, sighing when his Uncle offers him a pleading smile, “Ugh, Uncle Antok! Not the puppy eyes.”

“What? I missed the convo.” Lance says, arching a confused eyebrow, eyes finally focusing on Keith.

Keith sighs before he tugs him towards the cabin. “You will find out, come on.”

Uncle Kolivan actually chuckles lowly under his breath while Antok limits himself to raise two thumbs up at his nephew as they follow the teens.

 

* * *

Lance never thought he would see the day where Keith Kogane would be holding anything less sharp than his pocket knife and yet here he stands proudly with a toddler in his arms.

Toddler who is currently nibbling on Keith’s long hair. Lance takes a subtle picture from where he stands. Blackmail is still part of the deal.

“I really appreciate this, Keith.” Uncle Ulaz says as he pushes the toddler’s face away from his nephew's hair, “Her mother was supposed to drop her off later in the day and one of my clients just called –”

Keith waves his Uncle’s words off with a smile. “Uncle Ulaz, it’s fine, it can be like our bonding moment, our first one ever! Pretty special if you ask me.”

The man laughs, shaking his head in amusement as he reaches out and brushes his daughter's dark bangs away from her face. “When you put it that way.”

“No fire.” Uncle Kolivan says shortly, keys of his jeep hanging from his fingers, “and no eating ice cream on the living room.”

“Jeez, might as well tell us not to be young.” Keith jokes and pouts when his Uncle flicks his ear, “Ow.”

“Are you sure you two are okay watching over the twins and Becky?” Thace asks, standing next to his brother as he arches an eyebrow at his son, “We’re not going to be long that much, just picking up one of your Uncle’s packages in town, but still.”

“Dad, it’s fine,” Keith repeats, dragging the vowels a little too long to express his exasperation, “It’s not the first time I babysit; I have done a pretty good job in the past with Tessa and Dom.”

“Yeah! Keith’s great!” Dominic echoes, hugging tight his cousin’s leg but still addressing the adults, “Right, Tessa?”

His sister limits herself to nod enthusiastically, hugging Keith’s free leg with equal force.

_ ‘Please let go of your cousin’s legs.’ _ Antoks signs, frowning in disapproval and nodding proudly when both twins whine but do as told.

“Ah, so I  _ do  _ have legs!” Keith gasps and grins when both twins giggle.

Lance’s eyes soften at the small interaction. He considers himself a family man and he loves kids, especially because he’s the youngest of his own family, always in charge to take care of the nephews and nieces that keep growing in number by the year.

Not that he complains about it, he loves spending time with them. He just never thought it was the same for Keith.

The more you know.

Lance stands quietly on the side next to Keith as he lets the group chat among themselves until he feels a soft pat on his cheek.

He turns confused until he meets Becky’s big gray eyes, staring curiously at him. Lance tilts his head to the side and a smile twitches his lips when the toddler does the same, her small hand making its way to her mouth.

Lance chuckles as he gentle pushes the hand away from her mouth and to stop the whine that was about to leave her, he makes a funny face, pushing his cheeks together and sticking out his tongue. It’s an old trick that would never failed to make his nephews and nieces laugh and Keith’s baby cousin is no exception.

The toddler laughs, hands now being used to clap clumsily, shifting awkwardly still in Keith’s hold and Lance laughs, booping the toddler’s nose with affection.

“I think Lance’s on board too.” Keith says out of the sudden and Lance realizes he might have missed a few key points on the conversation but he doesn’t really mind.

Lance blinks and blushes shyly when he feels four pair of eyes staring at him with amusement. He coughs and rubs the back of his head sheepishly.

“Um, yeah, yeah, what Keith said.”

That seems to be the right answer because after that, the four adults seem satisfied and confident enough to leave both teens alone with the children.

Lance makes no comment when he catches Uncle’s Kolivan small  _ ‘I’m watching you’ _ sing on his way out. Lance waved back at him innocently.

The front door closes and then there’s only the two teens left sitting on the carpeted floor of the living room with two eight-year-olds and a toddler.

“What now?” Lance asks and Keith snorts.

“Well -”

“Get in, losers! We are going to the lake!”

Shiro’s voice startles both teens and somehow it only made the three kids present squeal in delight.

“Get in where?” Keith quietly asks and Lance suppresses the urge to gasp in offense and laughs when he sees Shiro do the same.

“My own family.” Shiro gasps dramatically.

“My own _boyfriend_.” Lance follows, huffing in surprise when two small bodies suddenly collide with his own, “Ow, okay, I’m not really a jungle gym, you guys, but okay.”

“Tessa, Dom, easy, don’t take advantage of him.” Keith frowns, shaking his head at both kids as they climb on Lance.

“It’s fine, Keith, really.” Lance reassurance, a chuckle escaping his lips as Tessa wraps her arms around his neck, “I don’t mind.”

Keith still purses his lips in hesitation before he sighs and turns towards the older couple. “So, the lake?”

“Yeah, everything is already on the pier, don’t worry.” Allura says kindly, waving a hand off in the air as she heads towards the door, hands moving up to work on her ponytail, “Now, come on, we have the lake all for ourselves to enjoy.”

“Why aren’t you guys on babysitting duty, though?” Keith asks, smiling down at his baby cousin in his arms as he stands up before shooting an unamused glare when he hears Shiro laugh.

“Uh, we are.” Shiro smirks smugly, “Who do you think is babysitting you guys, baby cuz?”

“I take offense on that.” Lance chimes in but still stands up, slowly and carefully, minding the two kids hanging off him, “Alright, to adventure, you guys!”

Both Dominic and Tessa cheer, one of the hanging from Lance’s chest while the other one grips Lance’s back.

“Oh, and he’s good with kids? Do I hear wedding bells?” Shiro asks once both Lance and Allura are out of earshot.

Keith scowls. “You are lucky I’m holding Becky.”

“Don’t I know it.” Shiro laughs, picking one of Becky’s hand to high five it gently and making the toddler giggle.

 

* * *

“You can go join them, you know?”

Lance nods, shifting a little on his spot on the ground to make himself comfortable. “I know, but it’s okay; Allura and Shiro have the twins entertained and you could use some company that actually speaks without making drool bubbles.”

Just in time, Becky makes another bubble and giggles right after it pops.

“Thank you for that demonstration, Rebecca Darling.”

Keith laughs, bouncing the toddler in his lap and sending Lance a teasing smile. “Careful there, it almost sounds as if you wanted to spend time with me.”

Lance snorts and waves him off before rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, right, as if. I’m just weak for beautiful girls, Princess Becky being a clear example. I gotta steal her affection from your hands, right, Becky?”

Another drool bubble.

“Well, it’s not like you have to work hard for it.”

Lance blinks, confused by the comment.

“What do you mean?” He asks as he pulls one knee up and lays his arm on top of it.

“Well, she probably doesn’t really remember me,” Keith confesses, letting the two years old to nibble on the cookie he had brought for her, “She was barely six months old last time I saw her.”

“When was that?”

Keith purses his lips as he tilts his head, eyes looking up as he tries to remember the date. “I’m not sure but I’m pretty sure it was during one of Uncle Ulaz’s visits right after we moved to the desert, two years ago.”

“The desert?” Lance echoes, smirk playful.

Keith rolls his eyes. “Fine, so, not really a literal desert, but compared to city? Arus was basically a desert.”

“Ah, so that’s where the conspiracy theorist rumors started from.”

“Conspiracy rumors?” Keith repeats amused, eyes not even on Becky as he pushes the stone in her hands away from her mouth.

Lance nods. “Yeah, man, the first few weeks after you transferred? People thought you were like, in an ongoing investigation for aliens or something, some of them said that they heard you saying something about deserts and big ships in the shape of lions.”

“Oh my god, seriously? That’s what it was all about?” Keith scoffs, “Jesus, no way! But, I mean, whatever, honestly? I don’t mind, as long as they talked about me and not someone I cared about, all is good.”

“Some rumors were pretty wild, dude.” Lance says playfully.

“Psh, all lies.”

“Some even said you were obsessed with Mothman.”

“Yeah, ok, but Mothman  _ is  _ real.” Keith cuts in with force, nodding seriously at the brunet and Lance splutters in surprise.

“Really now?” Lance laughs, “Okay, but why did you move out from the ‘desert’ then?”

“It was actually Uncle Kolivan’s idea.” Keith says, “He said - Becky, please stay still.”

“Hey, here, let her sit down on the jacket, we can place it between us so she doesn’t run off.” Lance says, already shrugging off his jacket.

Keith watches in silence and smiles gratefully when the toddler actually sits still on her improvised seat. “Thanks.”

“No problem.” Lance smiles, “So, Uncle Kolivan said?”

“Oh, yeah, so, we lived in the city before Arus, but after...well, after Mom…left,” Keith answer quietly, voice turning soft and hesitant as he plays with Becky aimlessly, “We came to live with Uncle Kolivan for a while before Dad decided to go to Arus and then, when his writing career took off, we ended up in, well, your town.”

“I have never heard you talk about you mom.” Lance confesses softly, resting his cheek against his pulled-up knee, mind running through memories, trying to remember a time that maybe he had heard something about Keith’s mom, any rumors or thrown comments around but nothing comes to mind.

Keith shrugs. “We never bothered to talk to each other before that didn't include yelling.” He offers with a small sad smile, “Besides, there’s not much to talk about.”

It does something inside Lance to hear such defeat in Keith’s voice and Lance wants to ask more, ask if she’s still living near them, if Keith still sees her because there’s this aching longing in Keith’s eyes when he mentions her.

Lance hesitates, lower lip caught between his lips and before he can open his mouth, there’s a loud shout coming from their right.

Lance barely has a second to blinks before there’s a small child climbing all over Keith.

“Keith! Keith! You gotta help us! Allura said there’s a treasure hidden in the lake but we need your help! Keith, Keith! Come on!”

“Alright, alright, slow down, Dom!” Keith laughs, standing up and easily picking the kid up by the armpits, twirling him gently in the air. “Don’t you wanna say hi to Becky at least?”

_ ‘That’s cute.’  _ Lance thinks fondly and then he pauses.

Hold that thought.

He sneaks another glance towards where Keith’s currently ruffling Dominic’s wet hair, both childlike laugh and Keith’s mixing together. And there’s this genuine toothy smile on Keith’s lips and –

_ ‘Yeah, that’s really really cute,’  _ Lance confirms, panic slowly making its way up to his chest, _ ‘But that’s only because of Dom, not because of Keith. Dom is a cute kid, duh, and Keith's eyes really light up when he’s here and that smile is so bright that –’ _

Oh, no.

Lance freezes, eyes widening as his stomach flips. _ ‘Okay, that was uncalled for.’ _

Lance wants to believe he is a man of romance and emotions. That’s why he can always recognize the small things, like the sudden tug in the heart whenever he sees a person of interest. Or the giddying warmth he feels in his chest whenever he feels affection and attraction towards other human beings.

He's no stranger to that feeling. What he is a stranger of is for Keith to be the origin of said feeling.

_ ‘Oh no, no no no.’  _ Lance thinks, shaking his head slowly as the trio in front of him continue as if he’s not currently having a meltdown, _ ‘Don’t panic. That was a one-time thing. It’s fine. It’s fine. So what? He is cute. That’s fine. Everyone is cute when they are with kids –’ _

Keith chooses that specific moment to laugh freely, as he hovers over Becky as Dominic makes funny faces to the baby before he looks up to meet Lance’s eyes.

God, there’s no way Lance can explain that sudden skip on his heart when Keith’s eyes settle down on him, a big goofy smile on his lips. Lance’s breath hitches when Keith turns back to the youngsters and a sudden flash of light hits his eyes the right way; Lance never thought blue eyes could turn what could almost be purple.

Lance thinks that there’s no way they can make the scene more adorable but then Keith’s pushing together his two cheeks as he sticks out his tongue at his baby cousin, making the toddler to squeal happily as she pats his nose in appreciation and Lance is gone.

Oh, no.

“Hey, Becky,” Lance whispers once Keith and Dominic leave their spot to join Shiro and Allura on the pier of the lake, hand pressed against his neck as if it would help him to control his heartbeat, “I think I might have a crush on your cousin.”

Lance is not sure if he should take a drool bubble as family approval.

 

* * *

It’s a little after the sun sets when the small group makes their way back to the cabin. The adults don’t take long to arrive, taking over and making the small children take a bath before dinner.

The teenagers follow suit after them, this time Lance allowing to share the bathroom privilege with his roomie who smirks but bows gracefully in mock, making Lance punch him in the arm with a grin.

It was Allura’s idea actually, right after dinner, to have a movie night in the living room.

“Like a double date!” Allura had said once it was only the four of them in the middle of the living room before she threw a big blanket over Shiro’s head.

“But Allura we are not actually –” Keith had started to say but Allura shushed him loudly.

And that was that.

Lance pops another handful of popcorn to his mouth and chews, eyes never leaving the Tv in front of him.

He sits on the ground, butt being supported by a fluffy cushion and back against the couch, where both Allura and Shiro sit all snuggled up together like an actual couple.

Keith sits next to Lance, a responsible big empty space between them and Lance tries not to think so much on how his hand twitches when he catches sight of Keith’s hand near him.

Lance shoves another handful of popcorn in his mouth, keeping his traitorous hand busy before it could do something stupid.

They are all in their pj’s, making themselves more comfortable along with extra pillows laying around the floor and big fluffy blankets. Lance can vaguely hear the adults mumbling where they stand on the terrace behind the living room but he doesn’t pay them too much attention.

They are on their second movie, another old 80’s one because that’s all what Keith’s Uncle seems to have but Lance doesn’t mind, because they are entertaining and downright ridiculous.

Lance yawns, cracking his neck to the side as he starts to feel the fatigue taking a toll on him. He drops the bowl of popcorn that lays on his lap next to him on the floor before stretching his legs, as far as he can, groaning pleased during the process until he’s satisfied and flops back down, arms crossed over his chest as the movie continues.

The woman in the movie is about to discover the big mystery but that’s when something red catches his attention from the corner of his eye.

Lance turns slightly to the side, an eyebrow arched in curiosity as he sees a pair of feet covered in red neon socks invading his invisible zone.

Lance tilts his head to the side and just because he’s trying to convince himself that his next move is because he’s bored, he pushes his own foot with a blue sock against Keith’s, not too rough but enough to let his presence known.

There’s a pause and Lance thinks that maybe he should try again, but then the red foot twitches and suddenly it’s pushing back at his own blue one, accompanied by a huff from his side.

Lance doesn’t lift his eyes to look at Keith but he does shifts a little on his seat, closer to Keith’s side so he can have a better angle of attack, and then pushes his foot against Keith’s once again.

Keith doesn’t hold back anymore and then this time, he answers him by kicking against Lance’s ankle with his heel. Lance yelps, pursing his lips before he counterattacks.

Suddenly, the movie is tuned out for him and Lance’s attention is only on the clash of red and blue feet dueling. At some point, it becomes less aggressive but the competition is still lingering in their moves as small giggles and yelps leave their lips.

It makes Lance to snicker softly when Keith’s big toe gently grazes the soft part of his foot at a sudden movement and even after the sensation leaves and Lance goes for his revenge, the happy grin lingers on his face.

There’s a soft mumble of words behind him but he pays them no mind because there’s a soft playful laugh near him and Lance’s eyes widen as he turns his head see Keith.

The other teen is shaking his head in amusement with a smirk in place, eyes never leaving their ongoing battle of supreme foot, hair disheveled, loose strays of his hair falling from his messy pony tail and Lance never thought he would think Keith Kogane is adorable and yet he stands.

There's no annoyance whatsoever, not like Lance would have thought. No irritation and no malice in Keith’s features. It’s an unusual scene for Lance when he has only seen the other teen with a frown or with a bored expression inside the school and even back in soccer practice.

With a twitch on his mouth, Lance pushes his foot one more time playfully, earning a hard shove in response and a laugh.

He’s coming to terms with his own feelings, that maybe he does have a crush on Keith and that’s okay, because he now knows that Keith’s not a bad guy, he’s actually pretty cool and a nice friend. Maybe he doesn’t even have to pretend at all in this act of fake boyfriends.  _ Maybe – _

His train of thoughts is interrupted when Allura kicks them both out of the living room because of their  _ ‘giggling like school girls’ _ tuning out the movie's dialogue during its climax.

He thinks it’s worth it when Keith suggests a race on who would be the first one to arrive to their room.

Maybe Lance has a chance.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's wild how life is super crazy something, huh? BUT NO WORRIES, this story is NOT DONE YET and it will BE FINISHED!!! 
> 
> Thank you all, fromt he bottom of my heart, for sticking around <333 
> 
> AND A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO MY FRIENDS FOR LISTENING ME WHINE AND RAMBLE ABOUT THIS FIC AND TO MY BETA YAS WHO IS ALWAYS AMAZING AND HELPING ME <333

He wakes up with a hand blocking his air ducts.

Keith groans, pushing away the intruder in his nose before he stirs and blinks tiredly, eyes firmly on the blurry ceiling above him before he turns and meets the owner of the shameless hand.

Lance sleeps quietly next to him, half of his face buried deep into his pillow, mouth barely open. It’s unusual, seeing Lance so quiet when he’s usually so loud and it’s a change Keith welcomes.

Keith sighs, throwing his arm back and patting the bed surface until his hand meets the familiar shape of his phone. He taps the screen twice and squints a little when the bright screen lights up.

Eight o’clock. Half an hour left ‘til breakfast.

There’s a lot he can do during that half an hour; maybe take the first shower without music like Lance has done the last two days or maybe do a quick work out session, to get him warm up and ready for the day. There’s a bunch of activities he can do.

Staring at Lance’s sleeping face is not one of them.

And _yet_.

He feels like a creep, staring silently at his friend’s face but he doesn’t really have an excuse for it. His mind has been like a hurricane ever since they got here and every time he tries to come up with the cause of it, everything keeps leading him back to Lance.

Of course it’s Lance fault.

It’s probably because of the entire ordeal and this sudden found friendship Keith surprises himself enjoying. That must be it, there can’t be another reason for it; it’s fun and new and _damn him,_ but he never knew there will be a day where he would say Lance McClain was his friend.

He wonders for how long.

How long until this facade ends and they go back to their lives. How long until they see each other in the school’s halls and look away quickly. How long until Lance leaves him behind.

Lance stirs and Keith bolts out of the bed.

His half an hour ran out.

 

* * *

 

“Ah, the lovebirds have finally arrived.”

Keith rolls his eyes, waving his dad’s comment off nonchalantly but Lance just laughs next to him, shouting back a joke of his own that only makes his dad bark a laugh.

It’s terrifying how alike the two men are.

“Welcome to the land of living.” Ulaz says calmly, putting the plastic spoon back to the small bowl in Becky’s high chair before he turns towards his nephew. “Good sleep?”

“As much as I could get in this mosquito inferno.” Keith grunts, scratching the side of his neck annoyed, “They keep leaving marks all over my body.”

“Sure, the _‘mosquitos’_.” Kolivan grumbles as he passes by behind them, a tray of fruit in his hands. Keith flushes deeply while Ulaz just snorts.

“Uncle Kolivan!”

 _‘Nice one.’_ Antok signs, a playful grin in his lips as he wiggles his eyebrows at Keith. The teen resigns himself with a sigh, flopping on the chair next to Becky’s high chair.

The toddler greets him with a happy pat on his cheek and Keith smiles, propping himself up so he can lean down and drop a kiss on her head.

“That’s why you’re my favorite in this family, Becky.”

“Hey, I thought I was your favorite?” Shiro shouts, a pout in his lips as he exits the kitchen, half of his face covered in flour and apron half burnt.

“Oh no, Shiro was in charge of breakfast this morning?” Keith whines instead, sticking his tongue out when Shiro sticks his own at him.

“It was Allura and mine’s turn.” Shiro grumbles, shooting a glare towards Keith, “We will see what you say when it’s your turn to cook with Lance.”

“We get to do breakfast?” Lance asks excited, helping Thace to fill one of the glasses with juice before passing it over around the table. He turns towards Keith with a grin. “Dude, you didn't tell me that.”

“You don’t have to do it, Lance.” Keith grumbles, running his hands over his face, “You’re a guest. I can do it.”

“It’s an old family tradition,” Thace explains calmly, patting the brunet in the back when they finish filling up every glass, “Each member has to cook breakfast at least once during the weekend for the rest of the family.”

“And in this fine morning, Shiro and I were the lucky ones to fulfill such tradition.” Allura says happily, exiting the kitchen with a tray of waffles.

“Lucky for who, though?” Keith jokes, laughing when Shiro sends him the ‘Baby Proof’ middle finger, meaning he lifts up his pinkie finger at his cousin. Message received, either way.

He blinks in surprise, though, snapping his attention from Shiro to Lance when the brunet suddenly appears on the seat next to him.

“Come on, babe, give your cuz a chance.” Lance says, shrugging his shoulder innocently as he reaches out to grab Keith’s hand. “I bet it’s not that bad.”

Keith stays silent, letting his entire family to tell Lance the horrors and cryptid stories of Shiro’s experiences inside any kitchen. Instead, he stares at their joint hands and swallows dryly at the sight.

Lance been really into his character lately while _also_ being out of character. He’s fulfilling every part of being Keith’s fake boyfriend but it feels so…

Odd? Close enough.

Because Keith knows this is Lance _acting_. Lance doing his part and just doing what Keith asked him to. There’s nothing more behind those small acts.

But why does he enjoy them so much?

Keith thinks back to lake, barely a day ago and how he had taken the simplest excuse just to be able to hold Lance’s hand. It’s wrong, so wrong because he had lied about his Uncles being there but it felt right, like their hands were shaped to fit the other.

He looks up when someone clears their throat, catching his dad’s knowing gaze from the other side of the table and he flushes, quickly looking away but hand staying wrap around Lance’s tightly.

It’s just for show, he reminds himself in his mind, not daring to look at Lance. Not when the teen starts rubbing small circle on top of Keith’s hand unconsciously and Keith’s stomach twists in a way he’s not so unfamiliar with.

Just for show.

 

* * *

 

Keith stares at this hand, opening it and closing every few seconds, eyebrows furrowed together in deep thought.

It should be weird that he still feels Lance’s hand pressure on his palm, or even the faint sensation Lance’s thumb left behind.

It shouldn’t have left him breathless and wanting more. It really shouldn’t have, and yet…

Keith sighs, hand turning into a fist as he pulls it up and hits his forehead with it, as if knocking into his brain would bring him some sense.

He looks down, where Lance and Dom are playing on the edge of the lake, water guns in their hands shooting at each other without mercy.

Keith’s no stranger to Lance’s emotions; the brunet was someone who spoke loud and freely about what he’s feeling. Keith had learnt that the very first day of school, but something had always felt off at the edge of every smile or laugh.

But now he sees it, what was missing.

It’s a spark, if Keith can even call it that way. It’s unique and bright, something Keith hasn’t seen before on the brunet, and he’s not surprised to realize that he likes this version of Lance’s smile better.

It feels honest and real, like a part of Lance that not anyone is allowed to see and somehow, Keith managed to catch a glimpse of it.

Keith sighs and leans back on the chair, eyes following his cousin and fake boyfriend’s moves. He sits alone on the terrace of the house, his ice tea forgotten on the table next to him. Something moves from the corner of the eye and Keith doesn’t need to turn around to know it’s Shiro.

“Alright, I will bite. Why the constipated face?”

Keith rolls his eyes but the corner of his lips twitch with amusement and he can’t really be that annoyed by his cousin’s words.

He shrugs instead, index finger rubbing anxiously against his thumb. “Nothing.”

It’s common knowledge to predict Shiro’s exasperated roll of eyes, so Keith doesn’t bother to turn his head. Shiro hums, fingers dancing on the surface of the wooden table between them before he open his mouth.

“Can we be real, for a second, please?”

“I don’t wanna talk about it.” Keith mumbles curtly, hoping that it would be enough to send Shiro the clear message but of course that wasn’t the case.

“Keith, I just want to understand.” Shiro sighs, “Last time I checked you weren’t so buddy buddy with Lance; he even got you in detention, and now suddenly he’s your boyfriend?”

“Fake boyfriend.” Keith corrects tightly and ignores the twist in his stomach at his own words.

“Sure, fine, fake boyfriend, then.” Shiro huffs, “And the reason he’s just that is…?”

The older teen trails off and Keith knows that Shiro won’t leave him alone until he gets his answer. Keith sighs, closing his eyes for a second before he finally turns, giving his back the display of Lance and his kid cousin playing.

It does nothing to ease his nerves or calm his beating heart.

“Remember that time I got arrested? And Dad had to bail me out?” Keith asks quietly, index finger and thumb never leaving each other as he grows more anxious. He waits until Shiro nods to continue. “I made a promise, then. We were going to leave town, to really settle down, so I promised Dad: no more detention, no more fights, no more expulsions.”

“You had a rough couple of months, just like everyone does when they lose someone.” Shiro says slowly, “You were in a bad shape, you can’t blame yourself for that.”

Keith laughs dryly. “Two years, though? Two years since she left and I’m still in the same place?”

“You’re _not_ in the same place, Keith.”

“Then why does it feel like I am?” Keith asks desperately, “Why does it still hurt?”

“These things take time, Keith.” Shiro says softly, reaching out to place his flesh hand over Keith’s shoulder and squeezing tight, “Everyone heals at a different pace, buddy.”

“I tried, though.” Keith whispers defeated, shoulder sagging in exhaustion, “I tried and you know how it turned out, and when I tried to escape, I fell deeper into the hole.”

“There’s no shame in that, Keith.” Shiro comforts gently, biting his lip when his cousin wouldn't meet his gaze, “Dude, you were hurting. Your dad doesn’t hold that against you, you gotta know that.”

“But I just kept hurting _him_.” Keith mumbles, hands running through his hair, “Every school call, every teacher meeting; it just kept weighting on Dad and that wasn’t fair. It still isn’t.”

“Is that why you build up all of this?” Shiro questions confused, “So Uncle Thace wouldn’t know you got _one_ detention?”

“A year and a half, Shiro.” Keith says, lifting up one finger, “One year out of trouble just to fall back into it. All because I’m weak to face reality.”

Shiro frowns. “What happened?”

“We, we had a fight, Lance and I.” Keith confesses quietly, leaning back and crossing his arms over his chest as he stares blankly at the table’s surface, “A week or so before the end of school, sort of. It was before soccer practice, the day Coach would choose the new Captain of the team for next season and Lance was...Lance.”

“What does that mean?” Shiro asks confused.

The teen makes a face before he purses his lips and shrugs. “It wasn’t his fault; he was acting like always with the teasing and bickering. It was my fault for taking it too personal but I just…”

“What did he say?” Shiro asks careful and Keith sighs, rubbing the right side of his face tiredly.

“Something about mom.” Keith mumbles, holding his hand up when Shiro inhales sharply, “Shiro, he didn’t - _doesn’t_ know about that. He couldn’t have known. It wasn’t his fault I snapped.”

Shiro frowns, unconvinced but he still nods, silently telling the younger teen to continue.

“The rest is history? I shoved him, he shoved back.” Keith shrugs tiredly, “Next thing I know I’m back at the beginning with a black eye and a broken promise.”

“Is that why they kicked you out of the team?” Shiro asks quietly and Keith nods. “Why wasn’t Lance?”

“I threw the first punch, so to say.” Keith says, fingers rubbing against each other anxiously, “Coach couldn’t choose the hot-headed kid to be Captain so he went with Lance.”

“So, Lance just got detention?” Keith nods, before pointing at his own lower lip. Shiro snorts, rolling his eyes. “Yes, and a split lip, right; still doesn’t sound fair.”

Keith snickers weakly before he shrugs, sighing sadly. “I haven’t even told Dad yet. Another disappointment, big surprise.”

“Keith, you can’t think like that.” Shiro presses firmly, “Your dad loves you, he only wants to help you. That’s why he wrote the –”

“Please, don’t bring the books up.” Keith groans, finally raising his head to meet Shiro’s eyes, “I don’t want to talk about the books.”

“I know it hurts.” Shiro says softly, leaning closer and squeezing Keith’s shoulder, “But you can’t keep pushing the topic away, your _dad_ away. He needs you just as much as you need him.”

Keith’s mouth opens, scowl growing with frustration before the door behind them opens and Thace’s head pops out.

“Hey, son, I was wondering if …” he pauses, eyeing both teens carefully before he arches an eyebrow, the easy smile on his lips slightly turning unsure, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, everything’s okay, dad.” Keith answers quickly, waving a hand off nonchalantly, “What’s up?”

Thace stares a few seconds longer at his son’s face before he speaks. “I was wondering if you minded going to town to pick up a few things from the post office that just came in? Maybe even take Lance with you, so he can get to know the town.”

“Yeah, sure, no problem.” Keith shrugs, standing up from his chair and picking up his jacket, “Imma take the Jeep, that’s okay?”

Thace nods, leaning against the door frame as he watches his son’s hurried moves. “Yeah, that’s fine. Text me if anything comes up.”

“Yeah, okay.” Keith nods, hand passing through his hair distracted before he offers a small smile and starts heading towards the stairs.

Both Thace and Shiro watch him climb down the stairs that connect with the lake to fetch Lance before they turn to share a look.

“What do you know?” Thace asks slowly, eyes narrowed suspiciously and rolls his eyes when Shiro raises his arms in innocence and shuts his lips tight. “Helpful as always, Takashi.”

Shiro offers a small sheepish smile.

 

* * *

 

“Oh, oh, dude, is that a bakery? Oh my god, we gotta try that! Wait, they also got a bookstore! Keith! Keith, we gotta go to both of them, come on! Keith, are you listening – _Keith_ , why are you walking faster?”

Keith rolls his eyes, shoving his hands deep into his hoodie as he walks. “Jesus Christ, Lance, not even Dom or Tessa are this talkative in a toy store.”

“It’s a new town! I wanna see everything.” Lance pouts, jogging a little to walk next to Keith, eyes still looking in awe around him, “Seriously, though, it’s a nice town, and we already went to the post office. Let’s get a coffee before going back, how about it?”

Keith pauses, arching an eyebrow at the suggestion and slows down enough to turn back and meet Lance’s eye.

The brunet stops abruptly to avoid smacking himself against Keith. Lance frowns confused, one of his hands on his hips as he tilts his head to the side in question.

“What? Is it that weird I want a coffee on a nice town?” Lance jokes, smile crooked as he laughs and Keith ignores the sharp tug his heart does at the sound.

“Not...really, I guess, just that, that you want to do it with me.” Keith answers quietly while wetting his lips, himself being unsure of why he felt so sweaty out of the sudden.

Lance blinks before he smiles. “Why wouldn’t I?”

Oh, boy, the list is quite long.

"Don’t answer that.” Lance deadpans, easily reading Keith’s expression. “Stop living in the past, dude. We’re friends now, right?”

“Right.” Keith answers slowly as Lance nods and throws his arm over Keith’s shoulder.

“Well, more like ‘boyfriends’, but you catch my drift!” Lance chuckles, poking Keith on the cheek with his free hand and Keith huffs, pushing Lance’s face away from his own with a twitch on his lips.

“Okay, fine, fine. You win, let’s go get a coffee.” Keith says, raising his hand in surrender and smiles when Lance beams and throws his fist in the air like a victory. “But it’s my treat.”

That makes Lance pause. “What? No, it’s fine, I can buy my own –”

“Lance,” Keith cuts in playfully, nudging the brunet on the ribs, “It’s fine, I owe you more than just coffee for all you have done, you know? Just let me do this.”

Lance swallows, a soft blush spreading through his ears before he smiles sheepishly and rubs the back of his neck. It’s a nice color on Lance’s skin. “Okay, fine, you win that one.” He says, snorting when Keith mimics his actions from a few seconds ago, throwing a fist in the air mockingly, “You’re a _nerd_ , but, uh, thanks.”

“No problem.”

Problem, _yes_ problem.

“Aw, come on.” Keith groans as soon as he steps into the coffee shop and his eyes settle down on a group of friends near the entrance windows, easily recognizing his cousin among them.

“What? What happened?” Lance asks innocently, frowning confused when Keith pulls him back and heads towards the exit.

“Zach’s right there.” Keith hisses.

Lance tilts his head before he answers just as quietly. “Your cousin? Why is that bad? He’s cool.”

Keith blinks. “What? You want to be teased to no end and act like my boyfriend?” He asks jokingly but his smile falls when Lance looks away, lower lip caught between his teeth. “Lance?”

“Ha, what? No, no way.” Lance laughs, waving his hand in the air but still not meeting Keith’s eye, “It’s fine, let’s go like, back to the cabin or whatever.”

Keith doesn’t has time to question him any further before someone behind him calls his name and then Keith huffs when a bigger body slams against his back.

“Cousin! Hey, dude, watcha doing here?” Zach exclaims, chin resting on top of Keith’s head before he looks at Lance and his smile turns into a teasing grin, “Oh ho, ho! A date with the bf, huh?”

“No.” Keith snaps quickly.

“Yes.” Lance answers easily.

Both teens look surprised at each other’s answer, eyes widen in surprise. Keith throats feels tight when Lance’s eyes quickly look away, arms crossed over his chest and Keith wants to take his words back for some reason. Zach arches an eyebrow at them before he shrugs himself off his cousin.

“Oh my gosh, is that Keith?” One of Zach’s friends squeals then, jumping on Zach’s back to get a better look of the teen and ignoring Zach’s huff, “And with a boyfriend? Oh my gosh, he has grown so much!”

“Not that much, apparently; still a midget.” Another friend snickers quietly, quickly shutting up when Keith glares at him.

“He’s a baby, lay off.” Zach says, shoving his friend before he focuses on his cousin, “It’s actually good to see you, dudes; we were about to go to the field to have an archery match, wanna come?”

“You ass, you know I suck at archery.” Keith rolls his eyes, crossing his arms over his chest as he glares at his cousin, “You just want to see me fail.”

Zach snickers. “I’m sorry, it’s just really funny to see you snap wood arrows in half whenever you get angry.”

“Did, uh, did someone said archery?” Lance chimes in, raising his hand like in a classroom, “Because I’m up for that.”

Keith does a double take, head snapping to the side to catch Lance’s face. Is he serious? Is he –

“Alright! Lancey Lance is on board!” Zach cheers, throwing his arm over Lance’s shoulder and squeezing tight, “Come on, I have an extra bow on the trunk.”

“Woah, woah, woah.” Keith shouts, grabbing Lance by the wrist when he sees Zach was starting to take the brunet with him, “See you guys there, okay? I gotta…talk to Lance.”

The group stares a few seconds before they all smirk. “Sure, okay, have a couple of kisses and then join society, but don’t be late and make me come back to drag you out!”

“Screw off, Zach!” Keith rolls his eyes and waiting until the entire group is out the door and then he turns to Lance, “Uh, one question: why?”

Lance blinks confused. “Why what?”

“Why accepting to play with my cousin?” Keith asks slowly, hands pressed together in a praying motion as he moves them up and down, “Why you enjoy tormenting me? You want to embarrass me, don’t you? I swear if you call me ‘daddy’, Lance, I will –”

Lance snorts, shaking his head. “Buddy, that’s not the intention, but thanks for the idea.”

Keith narrows his eyes. “Then…why?”

Lance pauses, pursing his lips as he looks away and scratches the back of his neck. The action makes Keith pause, because it’s unlike Lance to be so unsure of something.

“I just, uh, gotta win over the cousins, right?” Lance shrugs with a small smile, “Gotta win them over.”

“You don’t even know how to do archery, Lance.” Keith hisses as he looks around him for any uninvited ears, ignoring Lance’s amused snort at his tactics.

Lance limits himself to smirk knowingly before he winks. “Says who?”

Keith opens his open to answer but his chances are taken from him when Zach steps once again into the shop and literally drags them both out.

Keith recognizes the field they arrive to easy enough, being near the park he would always come with his cousins when he was a kid. He wonders if his initials are still on the wooden shack near the entrance of the field.

Keith watches in silence as one of Zach’s friends passes Lance a few arrows that are kept in the shack a few feet away from him. He arches an eyebrow when the older teen laughs and slaps Lance’s shoulder playfully, pushing her hair behind her ear as she blushes when Lance flashes her a bright grin. Probably from a joke, or a flirty comment knowing Lance.

Keith huffs and rolls his eyes, arms over his chest as he looks away.

“Don’t be jealous.” Zach says, suddenly standing next to him, his own arms crossed over his chest as he watches the same scene as him, “Camila is not stealing your prince, relax.”

Keith arches a skeptical eyebrow. “What makes you so sure?”

Zach looks down at him, mirroring his expression. “He’s your boyfriend, right?”

 _Ooh_. “Uh, yeah,” Keith clears his throat, hand rubbing the back of his neck as he looks away and starts walking, “Yeah, right.”

“And he’s obviously head over heels for you.”

Keith chokes with his own spit and stumbles over his own two feet.

“Uh,” Keith mumbles, feeling the familiar embarrassing heat spreading through his cheeks and groans when Zach smirks amusedly, “Shut, shut up, Zach.”

“Seems like he’s not the only one.” Zach mumbles quietly before claps his hands, ignoring his younger cousin’s indignant yelp, “Alright, here’s how it goes down, ladies and gentlemen.”

Keith half listens to his cousin when something from the corner of his eye catches his eye. Lance stands a few feet from him, eyes firmly on Zach as the older teen continues to explain the simple game rules but Keith notices the quick glances Lance directs to his bow, hands tightens around it before he smiles softly.

Keith knows what Lance looks before a match; they were in the same team for half a year after all. He got used to his loud cheers and exaggerated bouncing all the way from the lockers to the soccer field.

Out here instead, Lance’s quiet with an easy happy vibe around him as he nods along when Zach address him from time to time. He looks in his element and it makes Keith to doubt everything he thought he knew about Lance.

Two of Zach friends go first, each of them knowing their way with their bow and arrows and it comes as a surprise to no one when two out of five targets they manage to hit bullseye.

Zach is next, hitting one bullseye and getting close on the other ones. He cheers anyways, happy with his accomplishments before he turns towards the group, throwing his arms in the air in victory.

“Please, do try to surpass that.” Zach says as he passes by Lance and pats playfully his shoulder, “But it’s okay if you don’t.”

“Oh, you hit like, _one_ bullseye, Zach.” Keith scoffs, pushing the older teen away from Lance, looking around before he leans closer to the brunet’s side, “No, but seriously, do try to surpass that.”

Lance snorts, mumbling a dry ‘wow, thanks babe’ that makes Keith laugh.

“I won’t embarrass you, promise.” Lance says, bouncing on his spot as he cracks his neck. “I got this.”

“Yeah, you got this, come on.” Keith says, playfully punching Lance on the shoulder as he pushes him towards the shooting point line.

“What? You’re not gonna give him something?” Camila asks confused behind them, tilting her head to the side, her high ponytail following her moves, “Come on! Give the boy the goods!”

“Uh,” Keith mumbles dumbly, looking from Camila to Zach, who just shrugs unhelpfully before he whistles with a smug grin.

“Uh, good luck?” Keith says awkwardly as he pats Lances on the shoulder and then throwing his arms in exasperation when the group boos at him.

“Aw, come on!  What was that?” Zach shouts, hands cupping both sides of his mouth as he grins. “Give him a good luck smooch!”

“Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss!” Camila chants, the rest of their friends quickly following happily with Zach almost being the loudest.

Lance and Keith blink in surprise and Keith almost wants to be swallowed down by the ground when Lance’s eyes turn back to him and smiles nervously.

“You - you don’t have to, you know?” Lance mumbles quietly, almost shyly, and something inside Keith urges him to wipe away all of it from Lance’s face.

He’s moving before he even acknowledges his own actions.

His hands make their way to cup Lance’s cheeks, roughly pulling him down until his lips meets his own and any hesitation that he had felt before quickly evaporates as he swallows Lance’s surprised gasp.

There’s this moment, this painful long moment when Lance stays still, one of his hands hovering just above Keith’s forearm shakily and Keith’s mind freezes, screaming for throwing himself into the unknown but it’s that very same hand that cuts his own thoughts off and secures itself on the side of Keith’s neck, thumb rubbing against his warm skin almost tenderly as it gently pushes to the side to get a better angle and deepen the kiss.

Keith melts under Lance’s touch, craving for more than he could probably handle. More than he’s allowed to.

With a heavy heart, Keith slowly pulls away, keeping his eyes close in hopes to maintain as little as he can of Lance’s warmth on his lips before he sighs and presses his forehead against Lance’s.

“Go kick my cousin’s ass.” Keith whispers under his breath, smiling when Lance’s lips chase a second too long after his own before he opens his eyes.

Fierce determination spreads over those blue eyes and Keith’s stomach flips pleasantly.

“You got it, babe.” Lance whispers and then pulls away, his grip around the bow tightens as he walks over the shooting line and takes his first arrow out.

None of them have time to blink before Lance is exhaling softly under his breath and the arrow hits bullseye.

“I did not expect that.” Zach chimes in quietly, looking around him to see if anyone else was on the same boat as him and nodding pleased when the rest of the group of teens look equally shocked as he feels.

Lance doesn’t seem to hear them, because as soon as his arrow hits its target, he’s quick to pull another one from his back, takes a deep breath and shoots.

And shoots again.

And again.

Soon enough, he ends with three bullseyes out of five and that does it.

“Yeah! Yeah, bitches! That’s my boyfriend right there!” Keith cheers, whistling loud before he claps. It hurts to smile this big but he can’t help it, he’s excited and so happy to watch Lance cheer with him, surprise and excitement clear in his face as he laughs and turns to Keith.

He barely has a second to blink before Lance slams his body against his own and picks him off the floor, twirling them around. “Keith!” He yells happily, “I did it! Oh my god, did you see that!”

“I did! That was amazing, you - ! Woah, _hah_ , Lance, stop! Put me down, hah! _Lance_!”

Lance does, after doing two more rounds while laughing. They are both panting and the remains of Keith’s laughter makes him a little breathless. But nothing prepares him for his breath leaving him completely when he opens his eyes and Lance’s face is the breath away he’s missing.

Keith’s own eyes widen when the spark from before makes a comeback and it makes those blue eyes shine brighter. He doesn’t want to look away, away from Lance and his spark.

In the end, Zach steals it away from him.

“Dude, holy shit! Where did that come from?” He shouts, throwing himself in between the couple as he ruffles both of their heads, “That was awesome!”

Lance laughs, sneaking his way out of Zach’s hold as he fixes his hair. “Yeah, well, seems like the good luck charm was needed after all.” He jokes but his voice is soft as he looks towards Keith and smiles sheepishly.

Keith blinks surprised at the words before he chuckles and rubs the side of his neck embarrassed.

Zach looks between them before he smirks. “Such an OTP, you guys. Tone it down a notch.”

“Zach! Oh my god, stop!” Keith groans, shoving his cousin away. Zach raises both of his hands in mock surrender before he turns to the group, already picking everything up and heading towards the exit.

Lance leans closer to Keith then, his bow still in his right hand before he smiles cockily and tils his head innocently. “I kicked ass.” He announces proudly, pushing out his chest dramatically and Keith snorts, shaking his head.

“That you did.” Keith answers quietly, eyes turning soft as Lance starts rambling about the event, “Come on, enough kicking ass for a day. Let’s go back to the lake.”

There’s no need to because his cousin and his gang is far away from them, but Keith doesn’t pull away when Lance reaches out to hold his hand with his free one on their way back.

 

* * *

 

“ – and then, it was like everyone was holding their breath and suddenly, _wooosh_ , my arrow goes off and so does them!” Lance narrates, hands flying all over the place as he re-tells the story from his place on the co-pilot seat. Keith smiles as he turns off the engine and then he takes his seatbelt off, climbing out of the Jeep along with Lance.

“Lance, I know, I was there, remember?” Keith laughs, shaking his head in amusement when the brunet grins bashfully and rubs the back of his neck sheepishly.

“I know, I know. It just, wow, you know? I can’t believe I actually did that!” Lance shouts, throwing his arms up in the air, grin wide as they come. “Me. I did that, huh? That’s...wow, it had been a while since I felt so proud of myself, ya know?”

Something in Lance’s eyes shift and Keith frowns at it. He pauses in the middle of the parking lot to look around them, making sure that there’s no one around before he nudges the brunet gently and points behind him with his head.

“Come on.” Keith says softly, as he heads towards the lake stairs and starts climbing down.

Lance follows him with his eyes, looking to his sides in confusion before he shrugs and walks after Keith. The other teen waits for him at the end of the stairs, nodding pleased when Lance finally stands next to him and then leads Lance and himself towards the edge of the pier.

“What’re we doing here?” Lance asks confused as he shoves his hands to his jeans’ pockets. Keith hums in response.

“We’re sneaking around.”

Lance snorts, smile amused. “What? Why?”

“So you can be honest with me.” Keith answers frankly, stopping on his tracks to turn to Lance, “No need to pretend when we’re alone, Lance. Talk to me.”

Lance opens his mouth, eyes once again shifting with a different light in them and Keith’s not used to see the brunet that unsure of himself.

“You okay?” Keith asks quietly, rubbing his arm and ignores the shiver that runs down his spine when the night’s cold breeze makes its first appearance.

Lance shrugs as answer, frowning at Keith a little at the action before he takes his jacket off. “Here, take my jacket.”

“Hey, no, it’s fine.” Keith says, shaking his head and sighs when Lance still places his jacket on his shoulders, “Stubborn ass...but thank you.”

“No problem, _baby_.” Lance says playfully, patting him on the cheek and laughs softly when Keith slaps it away.

They sit quietly on the edge of the pier, shoulder to shoulder as they look at the lake in front of them. Keith waits anxiously, wetting his lips shyly before he opens his mouth.

“Hey, real talk? You were amazing out there.” He says softly, “I never knew you could aim like that. You looked like you were in your element.”

Lance snorts, hand rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Nah, no, man, that was...that was nothing ‘wow’ just...ya know, archery.”

“Yeah, I know, and it was amazing, I tell you.” Keith smiles big, “You were like a Sharpshooter.”

Lance laughs at that. “Wow, that’s gotta be the nicest thing you have ever told me.”

“Enjoy it while it lasts.” Keith jokes, playfully punching the brunet on the arm. “Honestly, I have never seen you so confident, not even out there in the soccer field. How come?”

“I don’t even like soccer that much, dude,” Lance confesses softly, knees pulled to his chest and dropping his chin on top of them, “Archery had always had my eye since I was kid, ya know.”

“Who taught you?” Keith asks softly with honest curiosity and his heart flutters when Lance’s smile turns fond.

“It was an old professor I used to have in elementary.” Lance says, throwing his head back to look at the sky, “His name was Benedict but he went by Blaytz, because it sounded like a sound effect; according to him, of course.”

“Sounds like your kind of professor.” Keith laughs, grinning widely when Lance barks a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, he was…something alright. I used to stay after school with him and watching him practice with his bow, shoot after shoot until one day he placed it in my hands and smiled at me and just…gave me chance.”

Lance chuckles, shaking his head at the memory. “I missed the target that day, of course, but damn, Professor Blaytz threw such a wild cheer for me right there and then. It felt nice. After that, I practiced archery with him after school every day until high school where, well, you know, soccer happened and you know the rest.”

Keith tilts his head to the side, leaning closer as he narrows his eyes in thought. “You don’t sound that fond of soccer now or even back then. What, what made you stay for so long?”

Lance shrugs weakly, a grim shadow falling over his eyes. “My entire family has always been surrounded by soccer; ever since I was little, soccer was a part of my life just like any family member. My grandpa, my dad, my uncle, my brother; every single one of them had been captain of the team in their days and then...there’s me.”

Keith nods slowly with a confused frown in place. “Yes, there’s you: the captain of the team.”

Lance snorts, shaking his head. “Yeah, only because there was no one better after you left the team. _‘We will make due’_ were Coach’s words.” Lance laughs dryly, “Iverson might be a prick alright, but _damn_ , no one can’t deny the truth in his words.”

Keith frowns concerned. “Lance, that’s not true.”

“Is it really not, though?” The brunet asks out loud, lifting his head and dropping one of his legs, letting it hang on the edge of the pier, barely above the water, “I can see it in their faces, you know? I can see grandpa’s shake of head, dad’s hesitation to answer any questions about it, the way my uncles share a look between them whenever I’m in the room. I know I’m a failure at it, but I’m trying so hard, I’m –”

There’s a crack and suddenly Lance snaps his mouth shut, lips pressed together as his hands turn into fists. Keith can see the small tremble on them.

He moves before he even knows what’s he’s doing but as soon as his hand makes contact with Lance’s own, he can’t seem to regret his impulsive actions.

“Keith?” Lance asks in surprise, eyes wide as he stares at their intertwined hands before he looks up. Keith’s heart aches at the sight of unshed tears at the edge of those blue eyes, “Is someone –?”

“Don’t look.” Keith says under his breath, heart pounding as he uses his free hands to cup Lance’s cheek, not allowing him to look away from him, “ _Don’t_ \- Eyes on me, Sharpshooter.”

Lance nods dumbly and unblinking.

“You’re amazing, you know?” Keith whispers quietly but the words are strong and unwavering as he stares into Lance’s eyes, “In whatever you choose; soccer, archery. _Hell_ , you can do ballet and still be amazing.”

Lance snorts wetly, lips pursed playfully as he blinks. “Because I’m leggy?”

Keith hums playfully. “No, because you’re Leggy-Lance.”

That earns him an incredulous laugh. “ _What_? What’s the difference from what I said?”

“The _‘Lance’_ part.” Keith declares strongly, chuckling when Lance stops laughing and sucks in a surprised breath, “You don’t have to prove anything to anyone. You just gotta be Lance; out on the soccer field or in the open woods with high targets. That’s _enough_.”

“Because I’m enough?” Lance chokes out, his smile wavering dangerously and Keith nods.

“More than enough.”

Lance blinks, the few tears that fall not making it to the end because Keith catches them just in time. Keith prays, _prays_ for Lance not to turn around and see that there’s no one looking, that there’ no need for the closeness and the intimacy.

This is his only chance, his one single real moment he can have no matter if it’s real for him only. So, Keith holds tight, because he’s no fool; the days pass by and he knows his feelings won’t.

“Hey, I have an idea.” Keith says softly, pulling his hands way and nudging Lance on the shoulder, “Ever camped out on a lake?”

Lance’s excited smile is answer enough.

 

* * *

 

“Boys, are you eloping or did I miss something?”

Lance snorts, shaking his head as a ‘no’ before he huffs when Keith drops yet another blanket in his arms, the two sleeping bags already on them bouncing at the force.

“We’re going to camp outside for a few hours.” Keith says distractedly, taking another step up on the small ladder to look on the closet’s higher shelves, “Probably just see the stars for a while before coming back inside.”

“Romantic.” Shiro sing-songs, wiggling his eyebrows in a teasing manner before he yelps when a cushion hits him on the head, “Hey!”

“Sorry, needed that.” Keith says in mock innocence.

“I think that’s wonderful.” Allura says before she gasps, “How about –”

“Nope, not another double date, no way.” Shiro shakes his head,

“Yeah, let the boys have their own private time.” Thace teases, winking towards the teens and laughing when they both blush.

“Is this a date to make up for the other one earlier?” Lance playfully asks under his breath next to Keith, arching an eyebrow.

“Maybe.” Keith mumble, snapping his mouth close when he hears his own words. “Um – _anyways_ , I think that’s all? I’m going to get the snacks, I’m - be right back, okay.”

Keith leaves before he can even see Lance’s reaction, but by his family’s coos and playful remarks he hears behind him, Keith guesses it couldn’t have been that bad.

 

* * *

 

“That’s a bunny’s paw.”

“No way, that’s a hot dog.”

“What? You’re crazy, there’s no way -”

“Too late! I, Lance Alessandro McClain, hereby declare that from now on, that bunch of bright dead rocks in the dark sky shall be known as,” Lance makes a pause, kicking Keith’s ankle with his heel, “Drums, please?” Silence. “ _Keith_.” A sigh and then the loud sound of hands slapping against skin repeatedly echoes around them, “ _Thank you -_ as the Hot Dog Conqueror!”

Keith burst out laughing, shoving Lance away playfully. The brunet only grins widely back at him, sticking out his tongue.

Keith has lost track of time since they started their little silly game. Must be somewhere around midnight if Keith has to guess, because even when the stars shine bright as soon as the sun sets, it’s until the middle of the night that they wait to mirror themselves against the lake’s surface.

It’s a pretty sight, one that Keith has been missing for the past few years and he takes comfort of seeing it again.

They both sit on the ground, their sleeping bags open and spread out below them as they stargaze next to the fire and re-named every constellation known to man.

It’s a game he hasn’t played in a long time and one he never thought he would enjoy again. His stomach hurts from laughing so much and his cheeks feel tight and frozen into a smile as Lance continues to reclaim every bunch of stars that seem close enough together to make a silly shape.

“You are just jealous that my constellations are so much better than yours, man.”

“Because you haven’t given me a chance!” Keith shouts a laugh leaving his lips while he rolls his eyes and he throws his arms in the air, “You keep stealing them, asshole.”

“Alright, alright, I will let you name the next one.” Lance says, raising both arms in mock surrender. He looks up, lips pursed in thought as his eyes travels among the stars. Keith reminds himself that he should be looking at the stars himself, but when he turns and sees Lance’s eyes, he realizes he doesn’t need to look far for them.

“Those, there!” Lance shouts then, arm up as he points toward the sky and Keith follows his direction. The teen hums, leaning closer and wrapping his arms around his pulled-up knees as he stares at the stars Lance pointed out.

They make a weird shape, almost like a zig zag. One of the stars shines brighter than the others, the one at the very end of the bottom line and Keith narrows his eyes at it.

It takes him a few seconds, mind going back into his childhood in hopes to remember where he has seen that weird constellation before in his life.

“Luxite.” He whispers in realization when the name comes to him, words feeling foreign and old in his mouth but familiar. Keith huffs a laugh, teeth biting down his lower lip, “That’s...that’s already named, Lance.”

“Luxite, though?” Lance snorts, nudging him by the shoulder, “How come?”

“I was four and obsessed with minerals, shut up.” Keith huffs but he sounds amused, “My mom and me named it together. I had totally forgotten about it, to be honest.”

“Luxite.” Lance repeats, frowning at the name before he looks back at the sky and his eyes widen, “Why does it sound – Oh! Oh, dude, of course, that makes sense.”

Keith blinks confused at Lance’s sudden outburst. “What are you talking about?”

Lance looks just as confused as Keith feels. “What? You don’t know what Luxite is?”

Keith shakes his head and Lance sits up, waiting until Keith follows his lead to speak. “Dude, it’s the name of the protagonist’s home planet inside the Hallasan’s series; you know, the books your dad’s author of.”

“It’s in the books?” Keith whispers, stomach turning unpleasantly and Lance shots him a concern look.

“Yeah, I mean, didn’t you...know?” Lance asks quietly, “You haven’t read them?”

“No, not really.” Keith confesses softly, half shrugging weakly as he looks away.

“Why not?” Lance asks softly and Keith’s hands move on their own. They reach inside his shirt, pulling at the black string around his neck before he brings up the small necklace.

“Too painful, I guess.” Keith mumbles under his breath, fingers caressing the surface of his ruby before he lets it fall on his chest. “I have enough reminders, I don’t need more.”

“What do you mean?”

Keith opens his mouth before he shakes his head. “Nothing, never mind. Hey, wanna go back inside? Maybe they left us some brownies I saw Uncle Kolivan doing earlier in the kitchen.”

Keith doesn’t wait for an answer. He stands quickly from the ground and tries to ignore Lance’s heavy stare as he moves around to pick up their blankets hurriedly.

God, he probably made everything awkward, didn’t he? He said too much, Lance doesn’t need to know all about his past and how he can’t move on from it. He probably thinks he’s a loser –

“Come on, slowpoke.” Lance says playful as he snatches the blankets and kicks him gently towards the fire, “Put that fire out already or I might just leave you no brownies!”

Keith gasps, loud and dramatic before he shots Lance a dirty glare. “Hey, no fair!”

That only makes Lance to laugh harder, hand covering his mouth in an attempt to keep quiet but it’s so endearing to see him fail. Keith feels his stomach untwist, the breath he didn’t know he was holding escaping his lips.

There’s no denying. Not with the way his heart beat fast at the sight of Lance’s smile or the hitch his breathe makes whenever Lance’s eyes settle down on his own.

“All fair in love and war, Samurai!”

“Oh, shut up, you nerd.”

He’s no longer pretending.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I aaaaaam le back!! :D and shit is going doooown! :D 
> 
> lmao, don't worry guys, we still got a few chapters left. I'm counting two or three. AND once again, thank you all for enjoying, reading, leaving a comment or kudo. It makes me really happy you're all enjoying this as I am.
> 
> aaaaaaaaaaaaand, excuse my typos and such. I try but some of them sneak past me and my beta, it happens. 
> 
> which talking about betas! @yas! you wonderful bean thank you once again so much for all your hard work and support on this story <3333

It’s seven am and Keith wonders how on earth Lance could have this much energy so early in the morning.

He feels his eyes drop, fluttering stubbornly as he leans tiredly against one of the higher cupboards near the fridge, his hand still loosely grabbing the handle of the half-open door. He forgot what he was asked to get from it, honestly.

“Keith!” Lance shouts behind him, easily shaking him out of his power nap in alarm. “Can I get those eggs already, please?”

Ah, so it was _eggs_.

“I dunno, can you?” Keith mumbles but still groggily opens the fridge’s door wider and takes out a small box of eggs. He makes his way back to the small island in the middle of the kitchen, placing down the eggs next to Lance before he drops the upper part of himself on the counter as well.

“I never took you to be a grumpy morning person,” Lance says above him, voice quiet but Keith can easily hear the teasing tone at the edge of it.

Keith grumbles something under his voice before he turns his head, catching Lance reaching out for another egg. It’s unfair, really, how it’s seven in the morning plus a quarter and yet Lance looks so damn fresh.

His bed hair cannot even be considered a bed hair, come _on_. It looks way too cute to be considered as one, unlike his own; Lance had to physically force him to sit down so he could tie it in a ponytail before they had even reached the kitchen earlier.

“I always took you for a lazy morning bird,” Keith replies groggily, voice somewhat muffled from his cheek being pressed against the surface beneath him.

Lance laughs and Keith tries to ignore the happy tug his heart does inside him at the sound.

“How did you even manage to fulfill this family task before me, Mullet?” Lance asks playfully, arching an eyebrow at him and Keith shrugs as he pushes himself off the island.

“I used to join Shiro and Allura,” Keith says, yawning loudly as he stretches his arms above him and sighs contently when he hears a soft ‘pop’. “Though, they used to let me nap on the dining table as they worked. Because they are _nice_ and _considerate_.”

“Well, you didn’t have _boyfriend_ duty before, did you now?” Lance replies, matching Keith’s tone with a teasing grin before he waves his hand. “It takes two to tango, buddy. Now, chop chop chop.”

“You chop chop chop,” Keith echoes back offended and blinks when Lance stares at him for a second. He flushes embarrassed when the brunet start snickering.

“No! No, Keith, I mean literally chop the fruit,” Lance explains through his laughter and Keith stares for a second more to take in the fond happy smile on Lance’s lips.

That’s for him. That’s there because Keith put it there.

“I knew that!” Keith yelps, feeling his blush spreading through his cheeks as he hastily turns around and heads towards the fridge.

“The, uh, fruit is near the sink, buddy,” Lance says behind him, amusement still lingering in his voice. Keith pauses before he slowly turns around and tries to ignore Lance’s eyes as he makes his way across the kitchen, grumbling under his breath.

“I knew that too.”

 

* * *

 

Keith doesn’t play fair.

Lance knows this. He has known since the first day he met the guy.

But those days were different. Back then it had been because of Keith’s natural talent to ace everything. It used to be because of his nonchalant attitude that made him so interesting to everyone in their class.

It had been different because back then, Keith would never even give him a mere glance to his way. There was also the time when Lance swears for everything holy that Keith made him trip that one time during soccer practice but Lance doesn’t hold grudges. At all.

But now, it’s _different_.

Good different.

Lance sneaks a glance over his shoulder, seeing the way Keith hums quietly under his breath as he cuts some bananas in small pieces and adds them to the big bowl next to him.

Keith also plays unfair, in an entirely different way, because it’s seven thirty in the morning and yet he looks beyond adorable.

Those are two words he thought he would ever put together to express emotion about Keith Kogane and yet, here Lance is; calling Keith Kogane adorable. Lance has a slight suspicion it’s because of the lazy ponytail hanging low on his neck.

Maybe, probably not.

What he  _does_ know is that it took a lot in Lance not to coo earlier today, when he had to almost drag Keith from the bed just so they could get out of the room.

It took even more of Lance not to die on the spot when Keith had sleepily nuzzled his face against his neck, still half-asleep and definitely not in his five senses to acknowledge his own actions.

Lance smiles at the memory as he pauses his own task and stares at Keith’s back. It’s so easy to get distracted whenever Keith’s near him. Maybe it’s because of the easy comfortable silence Keith provides, no pressure to fill in the holes of a conversation that’s not necessary.

Lance’s not sure; all he knows is that it feels _right_ and he _likes_ it.

It’s then when Lance catches Keith’s move, hands dropping the sharp knife on his hand and placing it down on the sink. He’s quick to turn around, back to his own task and heart beats wildly at the mere thought of Keith catching him being a creeper.

Not today, universe. Nu-huh. Lance wins this round.

He wonders, though, in the back of his head, if he’s really winning anything by pretending.

 

* * *

 

Keith survives breakfast.

“Alright, look alive, people! Look alive!”

Lunch, on the other hand...

Keith rolls his eyes as Shiro continues to clap animatedly, bouncing on his spot before doing long stretches on the ground. He watches with a smile though as Dom and Tessa giggle next to the older teen, trying to mimic his moves but end up climbing on him instead.

“Is he always like this when playing soccer?” Lance whispers by his side. Keith hums, taking the advantage of Lance’s distraction to give the brunet a quick look over.

Bless whoever invented shorts. Or bless Uncle Ulaz for gifting those red shorts to Keith on his last birthday so they could be now on Lance’s legs.

“Uh, yeah, Shiro was captain of the soccer team back in his old high school.” Keith shrugs, looking away as soon as Lance’s eyes turn to him. “The leader-y style stuck with him.”

“Well, I hope he knows we’re going to crush him!” Lance says cheerfully, voice growing louder with the intention to be heard and cackles when Shiro throws them a look.

“Keep them coming, McClain!” Shiro shouts back, narrowing his eyes playfully.

“Alright, guys, make your teams,” Thace says on the background, clapping his hands to get their attention. “Let’s get this show on the road!”

Shiro and Keith nod, grinning at each other as they start picking out their players. Shiro goes first, picking Allura predictably so. Keith hums as he looks over his options, most of his cousins shoving each other playfully and then his eyes land on Lance.

Lance, who seems uncaring of the choosing and instead is joking around with Zach, pushing the older teen away with a chuckle. Keith smiles to himself, gaze softening at the sight before someone coughs behind him.

“Keith, just say his name, we know you’re going to choose him,” Shiro says, shaking his head in amusement and Keith’s entire face flushes when he feels all of his relatives’ eyes on him.

“Uh, um, I choose Lance,” Keith croaks out, avoiding the brunet’s gaze when Lance makes his way over him.

They end up making teams of seven each, being complete when some friends from his cousins arrived just in time. With Uncle Kolivan as their referee, both teams go to their respective side of the field and huddle together in a tight circle.

“Okay, baby cuz, what’s the plan?” Zach asks, rubbing his hands together in anticipation. Keith purses his lips as he thinks.

Soccer matches against his family are always predictable since they have played them since they were kids. Keith’s well aware Shiro knows most of his strategies in the field just like he knows Shiro’s.

Their matches are usually friendly, no need to do big strategies to win since neither of them really care. But this time, for some odd reason, Keith wants to show off and win.

He doubts it has something to do with Lance.

Keith sneaks a glance to his side, catching the brunet’s eyes already on him. Lance limits himself to arch an eyebrow but offers a supportive smile nonetheless.

It’s so unlike the old expression he used to get from Lance earlier on the school year during their matches and the comparison makes his stomach to flip.

Maybe it has everything to do with Lance.

Keith perks up at the thought because maybe that wasn’t so bad.

“Lance,” Keith says, a smile growing on his lips as he reaches out and grasps the brunet’s shoulder. “Any ideas?”

Keith ignores the way his cousins and friends snicker among themselves, some of them shaking their head while others coo playfully. Instead, Keith focuses on Lance’s reaction that goes from dumbfounded to beaming within a second.

Lance goes off. The words come to him naturally as he shares his ideas and Keith feels proud at the way the brunet waits a few seconds in between them, asking for the team’s opinion or suggestions after each one.

He’s patient with every single suggestion, making the changes properly and nodding satisfied when each member of the team agree on their assigned positions. Keith chips in his own thoughts from time to time, pointing out an alternative that ends up being riskier but effective if done right.

Lance hears him out with interest and Keith tries not to shift under his gaze before the brunet beams back at him every time while excitedly adding his own ideas to Keith’s original ones to compliment it smoothly.

“That honestly sounds solid, dudes.” Zach whistles once they are done planning out the first half of the match. “Your coach should really consider making you both co-captains, just sayin’.”

The rest of the team voice their agreement to the sentiment, nodding along with the older teen but Keith flushes and looks away, a happy small smile covering his lips.

He doesn’t dare to look at Lance to see his own reaction but Keith hears him mumble annoyed when one his older cousin teasingly pokes at him while announcing his blush.

It’s too late now since he’s no longer part of the school’s team, but Keith really believes his cousin is right about that for once.

“What team?” Lance shouts later as he throws his hand in the middle of their circle. Every member follows suit, Keith being the first to land his hand on top of Lance’s own.

“Klance!” They chorus together, falling into a fit of laughter when both oblivious teens sputter and choke at the sudden chant.

“I - I thought we were Team Marmora?” Lance splutters confused, face growing redder by the second as he stares at the team’s knowing smirks.

“No–! That’s not – just, just no!” Keith groans next to him, throwing his hands in the air as he steps back and leaves the circle. He’s not dealing with that. Nope.

“Keith! Keith, don’t leave me behind, you quiznacker!” Lance shouts behind him, faintly hearing the faint jogging the brunet does to stand beside him.

Keith hums, stealing a quick glance towards his friend as they take their position on the field. His friend, his boyfriend, his crush.

His _something_.

Keith swallows dryly at the thought before he shakes his head.

The whistle goes off.

 

* * *

 

They’re 2-2 with little to no time left.

And yet he runs.

Lance pants heavily as dodges yet another player trying to take the ball from him. He’s so close now to score and winning the entire game, he can’t fail now.

But he’s trapped. Lance knows he needs to make a decision soon as more and more players from the opposite team start closing his possible exits.

“ _Lance!_ ”

But then Keith comes.

Lance's breathing hitches when he catches the side of Keith’s head from the corner of his eye, being far down from the opposite team’s goal line but with enough space to move and actually make it.

Lance doesn’t even think about it before he’s giving in to his instincts.

He watches in slow motion the way the ball rolls against the grass until it collides with Keith’s feet and suddenly he can breathe.

“Go, go, go!” Lance shouts, smiling cheekily when the some of Keith’s cousins surrounding him glare at him.

Bet they didn’t see that coming.

His space opens up quickly after that, half of the field players now following Keith close by but the teen doesn’t even flatter for a second as he runs.

Lance follows close behind too, cheering and warning by the side as he catches some players creeping up Keith’s blind side.

Keith doesn’t meet his gaze but his body listens to Lance’s voice, following his words. It fills Lance’s chest with _something_ that makes him grin widely.

Keith’s close to the other team’s goal line when Lance catches Shiro’s form running straight towards his teammate.

But Lance doesn’t even need to say a thing.

He watches mesmerized as his teammate reacts a second too close from failure; Keith stops, shifts to the side and then throws the ball with both of his feet behind him.

‘ _Wow_ ,’ is all Lance can think, swallowing dryly when Keith comes back to the ground, the ball still secured between his feet, and shots a cheeky grin towards his older cousin.

And before anyone can process the move –

“Gol!”

Keith scores.

“Gool!” Lance shouts again, throwing his arms in the air as he jumps on his spot. The entire field and audience follow his example and then there’s only cheers and applause echoing in his ears.

He doesn’t know he’s running until he’s crashing against Keith.

The brunet laughs gleefully as he wraps his arms around the other teen, grin painfully wide when he hears the way his friend huffs a small snicker of his own and greets him with open arms.

Boy, and if that isn’t enough to send his heart into another soccer match.

“Keith!” Lance laughs, easily picking the teen off the ground and twirling him around without hesitation. “Keith, you did it!”

Keith beams down at him, his weak protests drowning with the loud commotion around them but the bright smile on his lips tells everything Lance needs to know.

They’re both sweating heavily underneath the open clear sky but neither one of them cares. They pull the other closer, their laughter mixing itself with the loud cheering around them.

When Lance feels a hand cupping the back of his neck shyly, he knows he might never get rid of the burning sensation the touch leaves behind.

“You did it,” Lance whispers, grin softening on the edges until they settle down on a gentle smile. He chuckles quietly. “You actually did it.”

Keith snorts, shaking his head as he rolls his eyes in mock exasperation.

“Nah, I didn’t,” Keith says softly as he taps Lance’s forehead from above. He smiles when Lance pouts in mock offense. “ _We_ did it.”

Lance blinks in surprise, mouth hanging slightly open as he stares up at the teen in his arms. He slowly brings him down to the ground without a sound, eyes never leaving Keith’s own.

No part of them move; not Keith’s hands behind his neck or even Lance’s own on Keith’s waist.

It’s not a mystery anymore –

“We’re a good team, huh?”

Lance knows what he wants.

 _Kiss him._ Lance’s mind screams at him on the inside as he swallows, hands tightening their hold on Keith’s waist. _Kiss him and don’t let go._

But Keith’s taken away from him abruptly when there suddenly four more bodies crashing against them.

“We won!” Zach screams in his ear, his elbow digging deep into his stomach. “Hell yeah, we’re getting funky tonight, bitches!”

“Jesus Christ, Zach!” Keith spats in annoyance from somewhere. Lance can’t exactly pinpoint where since his vision is limited with Zack’s armpit in his face.

This isn’t what he wanted.

“Zach, get off them!” Shiro’s laughs rings in the background as his salvation. Lance gasps dramatically as Shiro pulls him on his feet, patting him on the back with a playful arched eyebrow.

“You don’t wanna go to armpit town,” Lance explains deadpanned as he waves the older teen off. Shiro laughs before he holds out his prosthetic to him.

“Good game, cadet.”

Lance beams, quickly shaking the older teen’s hand strongly.

“Right back ya.”

Shiro looks like he wants to say something, the serious edge his gaze take making Lance turn his head in confusion but he’s cut off before he can get a word out.

“Allura!” Shiro shouts through his laughter, groaning in fake pain as he lies on the ground face down with his girlfriend on top of him.

Allura giggles as she pats her boyfriend’s head before she turns towards Lance. “Revenge shall be ours next time, young paladin,” she says, dropping her voice to make it sounds deeper.

Lance snickers, opening his mouth to reply when someone beats him to it.

“Oh, we’ll be ready,” Keith says with a grin, standing next to Lance. The brunet barely has time to blink before Keith is nudging him on the side. “Won’t we, babe?”

 _‘That sounds like a promise,’_ Lance thinks instead of answering, staring at Keith’s deep blue gaze with curiosity.

He doesn't have a lot of time to dwell on it before he’s being dragged by Allura to be part of yet another body pile on top of Shiro, the rest of Keith’s family following close by.

Lance’s happy to notice that he gets no armpit this time.

 

* * *

 

Keith has come to find out that ‘family’ is something that comes naturally for Lance.

It’s something he hadn't expected, not when back in school all that would come out of Lance’s mouth were annoying jabs most of the time with a curse at the end every now and then.

This Lance is different because this one does the exact same annoying jabs but they are playful and lighthearted. He pokes and jokes among Keith’s cousins with a big grin and his relatives laugh with him as if he has always been one of their own.

Lance’s different because he’s bright and fun to be around. He’s charming and playful, always listening attentively to whatever other people are saying. He’s loud and cheerful when giving out praise but bashful when receiving it.

Or maybe Lance has always been like this and Keith hadn't noticed.

God, he has been missing out.

“Whatcha thinkin’ about?”

Keith jumps slightly on his feet as he turns to catch Shiro’s gaze next to him. The older teen arches an eyebrow at him, holding his own plate of food with his prosthetic as he stares.

“Uh, nothing.”

“Uh-huh, I’m going to pretend I believe you,” Shiro says, eyeing him carefully from the side before he shrugs. “Anyway, I wanted to ask you something.”

Keith nods, taking another bite from his burger. “Yeh?”

“What’s the plan after this?” Shiro asks curiously, picking up a chip from Keith’s plate and chewing on it. ”You know, like, between you two. Are you gonna go ‘thanks for faking it with me, buddy’ or are you going to confess and get a _real_ boyfriend?”

Keith chokes on his own chip. “S-Shiro, what the hell.”

“Jeez,” Shiro grimaces as he offers hard pats on Keith’s back. “Calm down, I’m just curious.”

Keith waves him off. “What do you _mean?_ ” he asks dumbfounded at his cousin’s words. Confess? In this lifetime? Keith thinks _not_.

“I mean how you’re pining over your fake boyfriend and should come clean from it,” Shiro says, shrugging nonchalantly.

“I, I don’t –” Keith stutters uselessly and purses his lips at his own words. “I don’t _pine, okay?_ ”

“Okay,” Shiro agrees easily and Keith believes he has won until – “You got a crush, same difference.”

God, please, have mercy.

“Is there a point of this conversation?” Keith huffs, taking a big bite from his burger and chewing almost angrily. Shiro watches in amusement.

“Well, yeah,” Shiro answers. “The point of you admitting you got the feelings and should come clean from your lie: if not for yourself, for Lance.”

“He doesn’t need to know,” Keith hisses after he swallows his food.

“He came here thinking you didn’t like him, not even as a friend,” Shiro reminds him quietly, staring down at him knowingly. “That’s not the case anymore. I can tell you like him, Keith, for _real_ ; what’s so wrong about telling him that?”

 _‘Rejection,’_ Keith thinks instantly. _‘Losing him.’_

“He wouldn’t – _doesn’t_ feel the same,” Keith whispers quietly instead, staring at his half-eaten burger before he sighs and drops it back on the plate.

“Keith, I’m not Lance to know for certain but I’m pretty sure he does,” Shiro says softly. “Dude, there’s _something_ in the way he looks at you.”

“It’s _fake_.”

“It really isn’t, Keith,” Shiro says strongly, holding Keith’s stare with his own. “You can’t fake that kind of look.”

Shiro nods at him, urging him to turn around and see what he sees but Keith doesn't.

 _It’s fake_ , he tells himself.

“Why don’t you wanna see it?”

Keith shakes his head. He doesn't dare to look and see what may send his heart into a cardiac arrest. It’s not real, it’s not. Why play himself into thinking it is when he knows the truth?

There’s nothing to see.

“I don’t know,” Keith answers softly, shoulders dropping resigned.

 _'It's fine, Keith, its fine,'_ he chants in his head as he presses a hand over his chest, the familiar weight of his necklace soothing his beating heart. ' _Just don't look into those blue eyes. It's fine_ – _'_

Keith steals a quick glance behind him, eyes immediately falling on Lance’s figure a few feet away from them and his breath catches on his throat as Lance beams oblivious among his family.

His lungs almost leave his entire body when the brunet looks up to meet his stare. The realization of it does nothing to dim his blinding smile. If anything, it _grows_.

_It can’t be real._

He barely acknowledges the comforting pat Shiro drops on his shoulder before the older teen turns and leaves him behind with his thoughts.

 

* * *

 

Lance considers his options and decides against asking Shiro what was all of that about when the older teen walks past him.

Considering the hard scowl Keith’s wearing when he storms off towards the edge of the pier, Lance guesses it wasn’t a pleasant conversation.

Lance excuses himself from the unlit bonfire, gently prying Tessa off his arm and leaving her with Allura before heading towards the pier to join him.

Lance stops a few feet from the teen, crouching down enough for him to knock against the wooden floor to make his presence known. He offers a small smile to Keith when he turns to face him.

“Hey,” Lance says softly, standing up and closing the distance between them after Keith nods at him. He sits next to him and crosses his legs on the pier’s surface. “Whatcha doing here alone, Mullet?”

Keith shrugs nonchalantly, avoiding his gaze and Lance’s stomach drops unpleasantly. Okay, maybe he just doesn’t want to talk, it’s valid.

But maybe he just doesn’t want to talk to Lance.

Lance bites down his lower lip at the thought, suddenly feeling unsure of his decision. Keith probably wanted a moment alone, where he didn’t have to pretend he was in a relationship with someone he could barely call a friend.

God, he’s messing it up, isn’t he? He’s putting his feelings before Keith’s own, only thinking of himself and what he wants –

“Where’re you going?” Keith asks then, his piercing eyes finally on Lance’s own, looking confused. Lance opens his mouth but no sounds come out before he looks down, surprised to see himself already half-crouching in order to stand up from the ground.

“I, uh, thought you wanted time alone?” Lance says but it sounds more like a question even to his own ears. Keith furrows his eyebrow as he tilts his head before he snorts.

“Sit down,” Keith mumbles, reaching out to catch his wrist and pulling him back down next to him. “They probably think we’re being sappy anyway; enjoy not having to pretend right now.”

Lance hums, a weak smile on his lips that doesn't reach his eye.

“Hm, a break from pretending, huh?” Lance repeats quietly, this time mimicking Keith and letting his legs to hang loosely from the pier’s edge. “Sounds good.”

It _doesn't_.

Because this entire thing of fake dating gives him a chance to actually be close to Keith without having to explain the mess of feelings that reside inside him. It gives him an opportunity to prove to Keith that he’s more than what he had shown in the past and he can be _better_.

It gives him a chance to build up the courage enough to tell Keith the truth.

Lance looks down, catching the way Keith’s right hand lays loosely next to the teen’s thigh and he scolds himself for wanting to reach out to it and hold it.

He just wants to hold hands outside the act.

Lance hesitates and with fake innocence, he slowly puts his hands down, leaving it merely breaths away from Keith’s own. He waits for a reaction, for some indication that he’s going the wrong way but nothing comes; Keith continues to stare ahead, watching the way the lake water moves along the summer breeze.

Lance swallows dryly. He slides his hand close to its target, cheering on the inside when Keith’s hand doesn’t move but then he sneaks a second glance at the teen next to him and stops.

Keith looks happy. He looks so damn happy and at ease despite the dried mud that is covering half of his hair and a third of his face. He’s content right now, Lance realizes at the small genuine smile on his crush’s lips.

Lance doesn’t want to break that.

The brunet purses his lips, wetting them anxiously before he shifts on his seat, turning away from the other teen. He slowly brings his hand back, letting it drop once again on his lap silently and decides to stare down at the water below them.

Lance doesn’t lift his head when he hears Keith sighing quietly next to him.

It sounds oddly sad.

 

* * *

 

“You boys really didn’t need to do this,” Thace repeats himself as he wraps a plain apron around his waist. “You two outdid yourself this morning after all.”

“It’s not a big deal, I enjoy cooking,” Lance replies casually, shrugging his shoulders with a smile. “Besides, it’s the least I can do for having me over, sir.”

Keith rolls his eyes from his place on top of the kitchen’s counter, chewing the bite he had taken from the apple on his hand before he swallows. “Okay, but why am I here? I don’t like cooking.”

“Because you got a part to play,” Thace replies easily a second later, patting his son on the shoulder as he walks past him.

Lance blinks at the words, eyebrows furrowed in confusion before he shares a look with Keith. The teen looks just as confused as he feels, showing it so with half a shrug.

“Lance, check the fridge, please? I want to make sure we have everything,” Thace calls from the other side of the kitchen while looking through the cupboard.

Lance nods. “On it.”

“What’s for dinner, anyway?” Keith asks curiously behind the brunet.

Lance beams at the question, hurriedly putting down the food on his arms next to Keith before he starts rambling.

“We’re making _paella!_ My mom usually makes it for big family gatherings back in Cuba when we visit my grandparents. It’s a family recipe passed by generations and all that. It was pretty famous in our old neighborhood,” Lance announces happily before he pauses and looks at both men unsure. “Uh, if that’s alright? _Shoot,_  I didn’t even ask beforehand if it was okay. I can come up something else or if you have any ideas, sir?”

Thace chuckles quietly as he reaches out and squeezes Lance’s shoulder in reassurance. “It sounds delicious, Lance. Thank you for sharing something so personal and special with us.”

Lance beams, smiling bashfully at the words. “Ah, it’s nothing, really.”

“We will be the judges of that later tonight, young man,” Thace jokes as he nudges him on the side. Lance laughs, nudging back with a playful grin.

The thing about Keith’s dad is that Lance doesn't feel pressure to put on a show. Thace gives off a calm vibe to the entire room that instantly makes Lance settle down and let his shoulders loose.

He had seen and known about the adult before the weekend, of course; Lance had seen him on some of their soccer matches during mid-season, cheering for Keith whenever his son had the ball or not and always greeting him with a pat and an honest praise at the end of every game.

Lance doesn’t recall seeing Keith’s mom at some point in the past year and the thought makes him pauses his work. His eyebrows are knitted together as he sneaks a glance towards the adult currently humming under his breath as he works on the chicken and then at the teen a few feet from him, still nibbling on an apple without a care.

It really isn’t his place to ask but…

“Keith,” someone calls out of nowhere and the trio inside the kitchen look towards the entrance where Keith’s uncle stands. “I need you to come with me.”

Keith blinks confusedly. “Where to?”

“Downtown. One of my friends just told me the parts for my hoverbike have arrived.” Kolivan grins as he steps forward and nudges his nephew on the ribs. “Thought you might want to come with me to get them? Shiro’s coming too.”

Keith gasps, a grin growing on his lips and Lance can’t help to smile fondly at the sight. By the time Keith looks back at both Thace and Lance, the pair is already waving him off with mocking exasperation.

“Just go already,” Lance chuckles, waving a hand at him as he takes the extra apron from the counter, wrapping it around his waist. “We don’t want you to cut a finger like you almost did this morning, anyway.”

Keith rolls his eyes but he laughs either way as he hops off the counter, eyes scanning the space around him to find his phone.

Lance fake coughs, nudging him on the side to get his attention and then he tilts his head to point at the device on the right side of Keith. He scoffs playfully when Keith looks confused before he follows his gaze and sheepishly grabs his phone.

“You two better not be late for dinner!” Thace says, pointing at his brother and son in warning. “And no working on the hoverbike tonight, Keith!”

“Yeah, yeah, dad!” Keith says hurriedly, jogging towards the adult to give him a side hug. Thace holds him for a second longer and then he nods to himself, kissing the top of his son’s head.

It comes to a surprise to Lance, though, when Keith suddenly stands next to him, looking between him and his dad before he leans to the side and drops a kiss on his cheek.

It comes and goes in a blurry second that Lance barely has time to notice Keith walking past him towards the kitchen’s exit to catch up with his uncle.

“Okay, yeah, see you later, bye!” Keith shouts over his shoulder casually, as if they share cheek kisses every day of the year.

“Aw, young love,” Thace teases once it’s only Lance and him in the kitchen and the brunet actually considers putting his head on the half-full kitchen sink behind him.

Lance doesn’t know anything anymore.

 

* * *

 

Lance’s proud of a lot of things when it comes to himself.

He’s proud of his archery and soccer skills, despite them being two entirely different things. He’s proud of his intelligence and perseverance.

He’s proud of that one turkey drawing he did when he was in fourth grade with only raw macaroni. And he’s sure as hell proud of his _paella_.

“It smells delicious, Lance,” Thace says to him right after putting the lid back down on top of the pan. He squeezes Lance’s shoulder, grinning proudly. “You’re going to steal the night with this, son.”

“Aw, you flatter me,” Lance says, waving a hand in the air to hide his embarrassment at the plain honest praise he’s getting. “I really hope they like it.”

“They will, don’t worry,” Thace chuckles. “Why don’t you go join the others in the family room? Keith and the rest should be on their way back, anyway.”

Lance nods, easily untying the apron and handling it back to Thace with a smile.

He makes his way towards the family room in silence, scrolling down his phone aimlessly as he takes the turns necessary to arrive at his destination.

Until he collides with a wall and he realizes that maybe he took a wrong turn somewhere.

“My bad,” Lance mumbles, huffing annoyed as he puts his phone back in his pocket and looks around him.

The room he had crashed into is small but still big enough to hold a wall-size bookshelf and a desk a little far away from the big window on the other side of the room.

 _‘Probably an office,’_ Lance thinks as he makes his way further down into the room, his curiosity winning him over. He notices the second door the room has, still shut close but Lance can hear the faint sound of voices behind it.

Ah, maybe he was on the right path after all.

Lance hums pleased as he makes his way over the closed door, hand ready to slide it open when something catches his attention from the corner of his eye.

There are pictures all over the bookshelf on his right that sit frozen in time along with several medals and small trophies. Lance blinks and slowly brings his hand back, turning around to face the display entirely and scanning every photo frame near his sight.

Lance’s happy to notice that he’s able to recognize most of the people inside the photos, considering he has spent the last few days with them. He smiles softly as he sees Keith’s family going through the years in front of him.

He chuckles at the photo where he can easily recognize Keith and his older cousins in their younger days, each and every single one of them soaked as they play in the rain. He sees another where Kolivan stands tall and proud among his brothers, all of them grinning and smiling towards the camera as they side-hug each other by the shoulders.

There are a few wedding photos around, some birthday parties next to camping trips and a few others being in places Lance doesn’t recognize.

That’s when he sees Keith’s picture.

Lance slaps a hand over his chest while biting down his lower lip. God, in the past, back when they were rivals, Lance had actually prayed for Keith to had been one of those ugly babies.

But no. Keith had been a cute baby, actually.

Lance can’t say he’s surprised.

“Aw, man, he had a baby mullet,” Lance whispers fondly as he stares at the picture. It’s an individual photo of him, probably when he’s between six months old and one year, judging by the chubbiness on his cheeks and the way strong adult hands hold him by the waist to keep him in a sitting pose.

The toothy grin on his baby face is heart melting enough but adding those lost big gray eyes to the equation, Lance never stood a chance.

He takes a picture of it with his phone.

Keith owed him, anyway.

“Oh, there you are.”

Lance looks up, jumping on his spot at the sudden voice but relaxes when he sees Thace coming from the door he had meant to walk through, the muffled sound of voices from the family room behind him.

“Sorry, I shouldn’t be here,” Lance says sheepishly, rubbing his forearm nervously but slowly relaxes when Thace waves him off.

“It’s no problem, Lance, really,” Thace reassurance him, offering a kind smile before he looks towards the bookshelf. “I see you found the family photos.”

“Yeah, I did,” Lance replies quietly, following Thace’s eyes and tilting his head when he sees a photo he had missed. “Is that you?”

Thace nods, reaching out for the photo and letting it hover between them, allowing Lance to get a better look of it. “Yeah, we took this photo a few days after Keith was born.”

“Wow,” Lance mumbles softly, staring at the picture where a young goatee-less Thace stands next to a woman he doesn’t recognize, his arms wrapped around the lady as she holds a small baby Keith in her arms with a big smile.

“Who is that?” Lance asks before he can stop himself.

“That’s Chaehee, my wife.”

Lance freezes, the words echoing inside his head.

Wife? But Keith said –

Lance steals a glance towards Thace, stomach turning as he catches the longing in the adult’s eyes as he stares down at the picture with a bittersweet smile.

Lance swallows before he speaks quietly. “She’s beautiful,” he says kindly, offering a small smile. “I can see Keith takes after her, huh?”

That earns him a warm chuckle. “Yeah, he does. It’s something I’m actually grateful for; I get to see a small piece of her in him every day.”

Lance pauses, a small confused frown growing on his face. “What do you mean?”

Thace finally looks away from the photo, eyes looking tired. “Well, it’s been only two years since she passed away and –”

Lance inhales sharply at the news, eyes widening in shock as he takes a small step back unconsciously. He catches from the corner of his eyes as Thace stops talking, frowning in concern.

“I thought –” Lance stutters, looking bewildered enough for Thace to step closer to him, the concern lingering on his gaze as he grasps his shoulder.

“Keith didn’t tell you?” Thace asks, honest surprise dripping from his voice.

Lance shakes his head weakly, eyes falling back on the photo in Thace’s hand and catching a glimpse of the lady one more time.

There’s a flash before his eyes, dragging him back to what had happened a few days back and Lance feels like he has been punched on the stomach.

He remembers his own laughter, humorless and annoying as he walks past Keith on the field, the words he had said repeating themselves over and over again like a broken record.

_‘With those kicks, no wonder your mom doesn’t come see you, Kogane.’_

Oh, oh no.

“Dad, we’re back! Should we get the table ready for –” Keith pauses, arching an eyebrow from where he stands on the door Lance had walked through earlier.

The pair in question turn to look at him and Lance’s suddenly scared to talk, not really trusting his voice with the heavy lump in his throat.

“I will do that, don’t worry,” Thace says quietly, putting the photo frame back on the bookshelf, squeezing Lance's shoulder one more time before he leaves the room. “You two stay here.”

Both teens stay silent even after the door closes behind Thace. Lance turns back to the photo, eyes scanning the rest of them and now catching every photo of Keith’s mom appears on easily now that he knows who she is.

He hears Keith’s quiet footsteps, getting closer to him until he feels him standing next to him.

Lance wants to say so many things to him but the words are stuck on his throat. Now he understands why Keith had lashed out at him that time, why he didn't hold back and why there had been pain and sorrow in his eyes behind his anger.

It’s no wonder why Keith didn’t like him.

“Keith,” he calls quietly then, cutting the pregnant silence between them. “Keith, I’m sorry.”

He hears the way Keith lets out a small shuddering breath before he feels a hand wrapping itself around his own, pulling him towards the office’s entrance and away from the crowd sitting on the next room.

Lance follows him quietly.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Here’s my tumblr, just in case: [bleusarcelle](http://bleusarcelle.tumblr.com)  
> AND my writing tumblr for small drabbles I don't post here: [bleusarcellewrites](http://bleusarcellewrites.tumblr.com)
> 
> AND here's Kim's tumblr, check her out her art is SO lovely and good: [coralreefskim](http://coralreefskim.tumblr.com)  
> 


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